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A Titanic Turn In Fortunes
posted (June 16, 2017)
And, from that huge judgment, the Court of Appeal went on to hand down another big one in the favor of the Barrow Administration. It's the Titan International Securities lawsuit. That's the case from September 2014 where Supreme Court Justice Courtney Abel (able) awarded 8.8 million dollars in compensation to the company owners, Rohn Knowles and Kelvin Leach. The judge found that the police department's raid on their Matalon Building Office was excessive, and abusive.

The Government appealed that case, insisting that the judge's ruling was wrong, and today, the Court of Appeal agreed meaning the Government doesn't have to pay the multi-million-dollar judgment. But, it's only a partial victory because while they don't have to pay the award of damages, the Court did take note that the search and seizure of all of Titan's documents, computers and business records went too far. We spoke with Solicitor General Nigel Hawke about the outcome of the case.

Daniel Ortis
"Do you consider the decision from the court of appeal to set aside that award for Titan for damages? Is that a victory for the government of Belize?"

Nigel Hawke, Solocitor General
"Most certainly. All was that was award was the amount that was award was excessive. I think has been vindicated in a sense with the appeal a person would allowed in relation to the amount that was awarded. The court basically says that the trial judge awarded damages is in relation to compensation is set aside. One major reason is in fact that the company was not in operation. They had no license at the time to operate, so they basically suffered no loss."

So, the Government no doubt is breathing easier with that huge judgement debt lifted, but what were the points that the court had to consider in getting to this conclusion? Well, attorneys Denys Barrow and Eamon Courtenay discussed it at length with us when the case was heard back in March. Here's a short excerpt of that interview from then:

Eamon Courtenay, Attorney for TITAN
"Now, I know their position is that these people should get zero dollars, but it cannot be right for someone's constitutional rights to be violated in such a egregious way and the answer to that is well we have mash up your business, hahaha we win you lose."

Denys Barrow, Attorney for GOB
"Certainly there was an excessive seizure, more was taken away that was properly to have been taken away, but we need to bear in mind and we argued this part of it as well that police taking more than they should when they come to raid somebody's premises, let's say they come looking for weed or firearms and ammunition. They have been other instances where more has been taken, that has anything to do with what they came there for and that does not attract 8.8 million dollars' worth of damages and we are saying that what took place here was simply, and I say simply by reference to the 23 million US which was being claimed, what took place here was simply the taking away of an office load of equipment, files, computers etc., but it was not anything more than that."

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