Bz. Bank claims victory in another round with G.O.B.
Back in August when the Belize Bank was forced by the Central Bank Appeals Board to return the ten million U.S. Venezuela grant to the government coffers, the Belize Bank vowed that it would not be the end of the matter. Today the parties were back in the Supreme Court … and this time the Belize Bank is claiming victory. According to bank attorney Vincent Nelson, this morning the Chief Justice decided that government ought not to have leave to appeal the case to Belize’s Court of Appeal, which means that the fate of the money must now be decided by arbitration in London.
Vincent Nelson, Attorney for Belize Bank
“It’s a victory for the Belize Bank, it’s a victory for common sense, it’s a victory under fact and under law is quite clearly a victory that was coming and I am surprised that the government didn’t see it. The grounds of his decision basically was this is not a matter of general public importance because there is no evidence that was brought in which showed that. The government, in this particular case, hadn’t provided the evidence that should have been put before the courts in order to support their application. In addition, I think that the Chief Justice was somewhat concerned because where the parties have agreed in the commercial agreement that the matter ought to be referred to arbitration, he was in agreement that that ought to be respected, both by the court and by the parties. I think that was the crux of the decision this morning. Of course the other side has the opportunity of going to the Court of Appeal to seek leave from the Court of Appeal, but whether or not they will get it, that’s another matter.”
Kendra Griffith
“When the panel has made its decision, it’s final?”
Vincent Nelson
“When the panel has made its decision, it is generally final; subject of course, to a few areas where there may be an appeal. But in general the courts don’t want to hear a matter when it’s been decided by an arbitrary panel. But of course if it’s decided in somewhere like London it may have to come to Belize for enforcement and then it has to go before the court for the enforcement procedure and that will give government some argument at that stage to argue why it shouldn’t be enforce, but that is a question to be decided when and if the arbitrary panel gives a decision.”
Nelson was accompanied by attorney Andrew Marshalleck, while Michael Young appeared for the Attorney General’s Ministry. In arbitration, both parties decide who will sit on the arbitration panel and that panel will then consider the dispute and come to a decision.
