The government of Belize tonight finds itself owing the Ashcroft Alliance another 50 million US dollars. It's the result of a court hearing in the United States where this morning the US Supreme Court refused to hear Government's appeals of judgments in the cases of Belize v. BCB Holdings Limited et al. and Belize v. Belize Social Development Limited. According to a statement from Sidley Austin LLP - which represented BCB and BSDL, this victory clears the way for both companies to collect on the judgments which, including interest, is approximately U.S. $50 million dollars.
Both judgments date back to a dispute that started in 2009 when the Barrow administration rejected the Musa Administration's Accommodation Agreement. The Ashcroft Alliance took it to arbitration, lost, and then it ended up in the US courts, where they also lost, and tried to appeal it all the way to the US Supreme Court. That's the final court of appeal in the US - and now that they won't hear it, the lead Litigator Benno Kimmelman told us via phone from New York what it means for the government of Belize:
Benno Kimmelman (Lead, Litigation Team) - Sidley Austin LLP - New York
"For many years now the parties have been litigating about whether or not the awards must be paid or not, and now at least in the United States, all of that litigation is now over and the judgments are final. So, the government of Belize has an obligation under these judgments to pay the amounts of money that are reflected in these judgments based on the arbitration awards."
Jules Vasquez, 7News
"And if the government refuses, are the claimants able to take any action against their assets, their foreign held assets perhaps in the United States?"
Benno Kimmelman (Lead, Litigation Team) - Sidley Austin LLP - New York
"Now that the judgments are final, the judgments can be enforced in the United States."
"Most judgments are actually paid by the parties that owe them and when they're not, then sometimes steps are taken to try to obtain payment."
The Government of Belize did not issue a statement. But according to Kimmelman's law firm, quote, "This result has important implications for many cases involving enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in the U.S. Government was represented by Dorsey & Whitney LLP.
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