Supreme Court ruling leaves Telemedia in government’s control

godfrey smith

August twenty-fourth will mark one year since the government compulsorily acquired Belize Telemedia Limited. That prompted a slew of lawsuits but the company remains in the control of the government. In the Supreme Court today Justice Oswell Legall handed down a decision on a challenge of the constitutionality of the takeover by former B.T.L. Executive Chairman, Dean Boyce, and the British Caribbean Bank.  The ruling was brief; it was delivered in less than two minutes. News Five got a synopsis of that ruling from attorney for the claimants, Senior Counsel, Godfrey Smith.

Godfrey Smith, Attorney for Dean Boyce

“At the heart of this ruling was a challenge by Dean Boyce and by British Caribbean Bank against the constitutionality of Government’s compulsory acquisition, Government’s nationalization of Telemedia shares sometime in August of last year.  We have just gotten the judgment, the judge did not read it out, he merely announced his orders, namely, that both claims: that brought by British Caribbean Bank and that brought by Dean Boyce were dismissed and he ordered the Financial Secretary to comply with a particular statutory provision.  I haven’t had a chance to look at that yet and that the claimants play the defendants’ costs.  So our claims challenging the constitutionality at this stage have been dismissed.”

Rhenae Nunez, The Perspective Newspaper

“Where does this leave this matter?”

Godfrey Smith

“Well as you are aware, we had been before, the Supreme Court in fact before this particular judge in relation to the validity of the Telemedia Trust.  Mr. Justice Legal had found that the Trust was not valid, we gone ahead to the Court of Appeal and we had vindicated the point that indeed the Trust was valid, the trustees had been validly appointed.  Obviously one of the options to us is to appeal.  We cannot say anything about the appeal I have certainly consulted the clients and they have indicated whether they will appeal or not.”

If the claimants wish to appeal the ruling they have twenty one days in which to do so.