Decision due Monday in Free Zone case

Arguments concluded today in the court of Justice Samuel Awich on the matter of recent elections to the board of the Corozal Free Zone. The question of whether to allow an application for judicial review was presented by Fred Lumor, attorney for plaintiffs Winston Smiling and Gulab Sharma. Lumor argued that the question at hand is a legal one, namely whether the election was properly conducted, which should be determined by the court. Attorney Lois Young-Barrow, representing the Free Zone and its C.E.O., said that there is no reason for the court to grant judicial review as the plaintiffs are merely asking the court to substitute its own discretion for that of the zone’s administrators. The election, she maintained, was fair and transparent. Justice Awich said he would announce his decision on whether to grant the judicial review on Monday, August seventh.