BISL Versus G.O.B. before Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal today heard an appeal brought by Belize International Services Limited against the government.  This follows a win by the government in October 2016, three years after the June 2013 compulsory acquisition of the International Merchant Marine Registry of Belize and the International Business Companies Registry.  At the time, the Supreme Court dismissed a claim for compensation to the tune of ninety million dollars for government’s nationalization of IMMARBE and the IBC registries on the ground that the agreement was unlawful. The case came up today in the court of appeal where Senior Counsel Eamon Courtenay argued that the Supreme Court was wrong in ruling that the agreement was unlawful. He said that the agreement was in place for twenty years with no complaints from the government.   Courtenay also said that in this case, the court had the ability to remove or sever any clauses of the agreement that it considered unlawful and still leave the agreement intact. The hearing has been adjourned to Wednesday morning, when the Solicitor General, on behalf of the government will be responding to Belize International Services Limited.