Pre-eminent Belizean judge, professor, diplomat and intellectual Edward Laing did what no other Belizean has done - he sat on the International Court of Justice. But that was one accomplishment in a career of many, including lecturing at the University of the West Indies where Prime Minister Dean Barrow and Justice of the Court of Appeal Dennis Morrison were among his students. Laing went on to lecture at notre dame, the University of Maryland, and the New York School of Law. Laing’s death was sudden; he drowned on September 11th 2001 while snorkelling in Caye Caulker. But now his teaching will live on in the Supreme

Court’s Law Library. That’s where the Judge Edward Liang collection will sit. It was dedicated this afternoon and includes articles, textbooks, and decisions written by Laing. It was put together by the Chief Justice and Laing’s wife, Margery. She told us it is a fitting tribute. 

Margery Laing, Wife of Edward Laing
“What’s there now are books from my husband’s library that were used either in his teaching or in his research and the other aspect of the collection are publications, articles that were authored by him. So that’s basically what the collection consists of.

Certainly they are valuable books in and of themselves, those that were not authored by him but perhaps books that might not have been acquired here and so they may fill a gap in that respect. In the case of the books and papers which were authored by him, perhaps they will learn something about the scholarship, perhaps how to research and write themselves or perhaps they are just looking for key information which might happen to be there.

Proud is a good word, I am very proud but I’ll like you to know too that I for many years worked alongside him. I typed many of those manuscripts and edited and helped with the research. So even though my name is not there, I think my stamp is on some of them.”

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
“Judge Laing was I think a towering intellectual as a an academic, as a lawyer, as a professor and this dedication as a part of his collection I think is significant because it is a way of honouring his memory and it is a way of making concrete a part of the legacy that he has left us.”

Margery Laing stressed that the collection is a work in progress. As for his seat on the International Court of Justice, his perhaps most famous judgement was that of the “Prince” a maritime case in which he wrote a decision against Belize.