Stake Bank Seeks to Appeal Dismissal of Judicial Review
This afternoon, inside the courtroom of Justice Lisa Shoman, attorneys for Stake Bank Enterprise Ltd. sought leave to appeal a decision that was handed down by the Supreme Court on March third. An application for judicial review that sought to scrutinize government legislation in respect of an Environmental Compliance Plan had been struck out based on a technicality when the claimants failed to file their paperwork within the prescribed fourteen-day period. The E.C.P. which had been approved by the National Environmental Appraisal Committee, NEAC, was granted to Portico Enterprise, the parent company of Port of Magical Belize. Portico and Waterloo are both interested parties in the suit that has been brought by Stake Bank against the Government of Belize and NEAC. Following today’s session, News Five spoke with attorney Hector Guerra who represents Waterloo.
Hector Guerra
Hector Guerra, Attorney-at-law
“So today was set for the hearing of Stake Bank’s application, seeking leave to appeal. In layman’s terms, Stake Bank is seeking to appeal a decision of the Justice Shoman which saw their claim for judicial review struck out because they failed to comply with filing their claim within a fourteen-day period from when they got permission to bring their claim.”
Isani Cayetano
“So what are we looking at now in terms of what is being set before the parties?”
Hector Guerra
“So today, Justice Shoman set timelines for all parties to file submissions, written submissions at the behest of our clients to allow us to be given an opportunity to be heard and after doing that, she set a trial [date], well the hearing of the substantive application for the thirtieth of May.”
Isani Cayetano
“Has there been a change in the representation of the various parties? I notice that Senior Counsel [Andrew] Marshalleck was present in the session earlier.”
Hector Guerra:
“So Senior Counsel Marshalleck has now joined Stake Bank’s legal team and so he is now leading the charge for Stake Bank.”
