Sir Manuel SosaCBE (born 1950) is a former president of theBelize Court of Appeal, a position he held from 3 January 2011 to 24 December 2020, the longest term of any holder of that office.[1][2]
Sosa was called to the Belize Bar in 1976. He then served as an attorney in private practice until 1998, in the interim also taking a position on the Belize Advisory Council from 1987 to 1997 and temporarily serving as aSupreme Court of Belize justice in 1993.[3] In 1998, he was namedChief Justice of theSupreme Court of Belize in a controversial appointment by outgoingUnited Democratic PartyPMManuel Esquivel which was made right before theBelizean general election, 1998.[1][4] He succeededGeorge B. Singh, who with his failing health in mind was transferred to a less demanding position as a Justice of Appeal, only to pass away by March 1999.[5][6]
After the UDP's election losses, incomingPeople's United Party PMSaid Musa quickly took action to remove Sosa from his position as CJ by having a suit filed in the Supreme Court to nullify his appointment. In 1999, a judge of the Supreme Court (who was later removed from office for judicial misconduct) ruled, at a closed-door hearing of which Chief Justice Sosa was given no notice and at which he was therefore not present, that Esquivel had not fulfilled the constitutional requirement to consult with the leader of the opposition before appointing Sosa, meaning the appointment was null and void. In June that year, Sosa was sworn in as a Justice of Appeal instead.[7] In 2011, Sosa succeeded Elliot Mottley as Court of Appeal President; Mottley had resigned from the position in protest of an amendment to theConstitution of Belize which reduced hislife tenure to one year.[1] Sosa is the first native of Belize to serve in the position of president.[2] He is also the only person, living or dead, who has served as both Chief Justice of Belize and President of the Court of Appeal of Belize.
Sosa is a native ofCorozal Town in northern Belize. Upon completion of junior college in British Honduras ("BH" – now Belize) in 1971, he was famously cheated out of the coveted BH Open Scholarship, which was awarded to a close relative of the country's Premier, and instead awarded the Second BH scholarship, at which point he embarked on his study of law. He graduated from theNorman Manley Law School inJamaica in 1976. He received awards in respect of both years during which he attended that school, namely, Most Outstanding Student in the Law School for 1974-1975 and Most Outstanding Final Year Student in the Law School for 1975–1976. He is married to Elba Rosado-Sosa, officially known since 2014 as Lady Sosa, with whom he has three children. He was appointedCommander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1998.[1] In September 2012, he was named a member of theOrder of Belize.[8] He wasknighted in the2014 Birthday Honours for services to the judiciary.[9] In 2018, he was officially recognised by his alma mater, University of the West Indies (Cave Hill Campus), on the occasion of its 70th anniversary, as being among 70 of its graduates who have distinguished themselves by their "Outstanding Leadership and Public Service".
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chief Justice of the Belize Supreme Court 1998–1999 | Succeeded by Troadio Gonzalez (acting) |
| Preceded by | President of the Belize Court of Appeal 2011- | Succeeded by |