The ruling by the C.C.J. was grounded on equitable treatment since for over twenty years the receipts went into an escrow account rather than directly into the consolidated revenue fund and for over twenty years, the government had no complaints since they received all the money they were entitled to. Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte, this […]
Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte was also asked whether an oral ruling handed down by former Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin is a non-decision as stated by the Prime Minister recently. Peyrefitte says that the P.U.P. was consulted and knew the consequences of not renewing the CJ’s contract. Michael Peyrefitte, Attorney General “A decision is a […]
A politician was hauled before the courts today where he was read a single charge of failure to provide a specimen. P.U.P.’s standard bearer for Belmopan, Oscar Mira was arraigned following an accident on Friday night. But is it that cops are being stringent with the law or are they being used to target the […]
Also appearing in the Belmopan Magistrate’s Court today was Corporal Oscar Itch; he was arraigned for ten counts of forgery, for which he pleaded not guilty. On Monday, the firearms section of the Belize Police Department in Belmopan was closed as an investigation ensued into the allegation of fraud. The investigation revealed that between December […]
A major decision was handed down today by the Caribbean Court of Justice in a one hundred and forty-eight page judgment. The judgment from the highest court of Belize is one of the most blistering and damning on the Barrow administration, finding that its actions were high-handed in taking over the registries and not settling […]
The comprehensive judgment included the views of every judge of the C.C.J., who came to the same unanimous decision. Senior Counsel Eamon Courtenay, who represents B.I.S.L., spoke with News Five following the ruling. He describes the government’s takeover seven years ago as both roguish and thuggish. Eamon Courtenay, Attorney for B.I.S.L. “Belize International Services […]
The government now finds itself on the hook for as much as ninety million Belize dollars, plus interest which has accrued on that quantum since 2013. On Friday, Prime Minister Dean Barrow boldly declared, following the sitting of the House of Representatives, that government will not and cannot pay the damages being sought in respect […]
PM Barrow told reporters that they need not seek a response from him in respect of the outcome of the B.I.S.L. appeal. He famously said, “I am telling you from now: won’t pay, can’t pay.” Here is that clip once again, in the context of today’s decision. Prime Minister Dean Barrow [File: June 26th, […]
Of the five judges who presided over the appeal, the written judgment rendered by Justice Peter Jamadar is perhaps the most cutting and a scathing rebuke of the government. In a section of the ruling, titled Fatal Omissions, Justice Jamadar highlights that government failed to take any reasonable steps to try and resolve the issues […]
Aside from the ‘won’t pay, can’t pay’ statements from the PM, there is also the matter of non-decision. When PM Barrow dismissed former Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin’s ruling that he, the Minister of Finance, unlawfully spent over one point five billion dollars from the public purse, as a non-decision, it raised alarm. The prime minister […]
A letter was leaked today in which businessman and U.D.P. standard bearer for Caribbean Shores, Lee Mark Chang is threatening legal action against the Belize City Council for unpaid food bills, racked up under former Mayor Darrell Bradley’s administration. In a letter, dated June twelfth and addressed to the Senior Finance Manager at City Hall, […]
The letter has been released within weeks of the July leadership convention of the U.D.P. where Darrell Bradley is seeking to be leader. Political pundits believe that the timing of letter is to smear former Mayor Darrel Bradley, who is running against Wilfred Elrington, John Saldivar and Patrick Faber. Lee Mark Chang is known to […]
Tonight a corporal of police is detained for operating a fraudulent gun license approval scheme. Corporal Oscar Itch who was stationed at the Police Headquarters in Belmopan issued nearly thirty fake special gun license approvals. The scam was discovered by none other than the Commissioner of Police. Today, ComPol Williams said that he went on […]
The end of the state of emergency is in sight; it expires this Tuesday. Today, the Attorney General announced what many Belizeans have also been waiting for, ‘there will be no more curfew.’ On Ask the Experts today, Michael Peyrefitte announced the government’s plan to lift the curfew as of July first. The curfew has […]
While the government does away with the curfew, one thing that will become part of our daily lives is the face mask. There are currently three active cases of COVID-19 in the country and it is anticipated that when the P.G.I.A. opens on August fifteenth, Belize might experience a wave of imported cases. Attorney General […]
Social distancing is also here to stay and will be enforced. There are some exceptions to this rule and, according to Michael Peyrefitte; the limit of a hundred persons at an event will also be lifted when the S.O.E. expires on Tuesday. Peyrefitte stressed that in some instances where social distancing is not enforced, face […]
Unlike the Philip Goldson International Airport, land borders will remain closed. The Attorney General made it abundantly clear that the country’s borders with Mexico and Guatemala will remain close for the foreseeable future, especially since COVID-19 cases in both countries have been drastically increasing. Border jumpers rule remains in effect and, according to Peyrefitte, persons […]
As of Wednesday, child daycare centers will be able to open and operate. Daycares were closed down because such a facility can be particularly fertile places for the spread of contagious illnesses, especially since children are more susceptible to the spread of infectious diseases. With the limits of social gathering set to expire, Attorney General […]
Border jumpers are of concern for the spread of the virus. Belize recorded its twenty-fourth case of COVID-19 on Friday. The patient is a Honduran male who was caught fishing illegally in Belizean waters. He was detained off the coast of Placencia with two other Honduran nationals who have tested negative for the novel coronavirus. […]
A Bullet Tree Village resident was killed over the weekend. His body was discovered in the early hours of Sunday morning. Tonight the family says that they don’t know who wanted him dead. The circumstances of Isaias Oroman’s encounter with his killer remain unknown tonight – but reports say that cops are questioning a B.D.F. […]
Another land dispute is brewing; this time in southern Belize. The Red Bank village chairman is in the eye of a storm for distributing lands without consulting with the rest of council. Over the weekend, it became crystal clear that the council was not taking the heavy handedness lightly and a public meeting was held […]
“It is a non-decision” – that is what Prime Minister Dean Barrow stunningly said today during the Sitting of the House of Representatives in Belmopan. PM Barrow was speaking on the former Chief Justice’s ruling on January thirty-first, 2020. The then CJ, Kenneth Benjamin, ruled in favour of the Opposition and against the Barrow Administration, […]
The People’s United Party is not sitting down on this matter and says it will take the legal fight to the Caribbean Court of Justice if they have to. When the PM stated that the former Chief Justice’s oral ruling was a non-decision, member for Cayo South Julius Espat was outraged; Espat had steered the […]
At today’s sitting of the House of Representatives, four loan motions were tabled for approval, including the twelve million U.S. dollars from the I.D.B. for COVID-19 relief. The government had approached the I.D.B. for financial assistance for a programme to support minimum income levels for those affected by the coronavirus in the immediate period. A […]
Belize’s bondholders have formed a creditor committee which will work with the Belizean government after they were asked to agree to defer payment of interest on the thirteen million U.S. dollar bonds. Reuters is reporting that the “committee looks forward to engaging with the government to exchange views on the economic pressures that may constrain […]
