Right now, the Ashcroft attorneys and lawyers for Government of Belize are preparing for what we call "The War of the Worlds", a hugely consequential appeal case at the Caribbean Court of Justice. This appeal will determine once and for all in the highest appeal court in the land as to whether or not the Government was justified and lawful in the way it acquired the utility companies, BTL and BEL.
It's a raft of appeals launched by the Ashcroft entities, including Dean Boyce, British Caribbean Bank Ltd, and Dean Boyce and the Trustees of the BTL Employees' Trust. They are challenging the 2009 acquisition and the 2011 re-acquisition of BTL, while Fortis is challenging the Government's nationalization of the country's electricity company in 2011.
As has been very well publicized, the former owners want the court to strike down the Eighth amendment and the means by which the Barrow administration acquired majority shares in both companies claiming a public purpose. If that happens, they may ask the court to make an enforcement order which will oblige the current Managing Boards to step down so that the former executives can resume control. So, even though today's teleconference with the judges of the CCJ was only a case management conference, it's still an important inquiry about what happens next. We spoke with Government attorney, Denys Barrow, and he told us that a date has been set for this appeal to be heard to completion:
Denys Barrow, Attorney for Government
"There are six consolidated appeals, two of them are from the 2009 acquisition. So those two have been consolidated with three against the 2011 acquisition brought by Boyce, by BCB and by Fortis. And then the sixth one is an appeal by the Government of Belize against the failure of the Court of Appeal to accept that the acquisitions took retrospective effect."
Daniel Ortiz
"Okay, now sir, when is the earliest date for an actual hearing, a complete hearing in these appeals?"
Denys Barrow, Attorney for Government
"Those are set. Those are set for, I think, Wednesday the tenth, Thursday the eleventh and Friday, twelfth of December. A lot is at stake and there are different levels of possibility; one major possibility is that the 8th amendment specified, not just that the compulsory acquisition is deemed to be effective, but it also required that the government own majority shares in the public utilities. So one interesting question is if the actual acquisitions are struck down as unconstitutional, if the 8th amendment in relation with deeming the properties to vest is found to be wrong or unconstitutional although it is constitutional amendment, the question is will the CCJ go so far as to say that it is impermissible for the nation of Belize to say that public utilities shall be owned by the public."
As you heard, this case will be heard on December 10 to the 12. No decision has been made if it will be done via teleconference, or if the attorneys will travel to CCJ Headquarters, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. We'll be following closely, and updating you accordingly.
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