And after hearing from attorneys for both sides, Justice Abel ruled that he will hear the full case and decide on its merits. Today, McKay's attorney, Audrey Matura-Shepherd, updated the media:

Audrey Matura-Shepherd, attorney
"The good news for my client today is that the court ruled in her favor that permission is given for judicial review. Those 5 points were not accepted and as such now we are set for trial for the 20th May. What this means is that there are key things that has happen; there is a policy handbook which the defense has submitted is either near nor their; it carried no weight, so my client couldn't rely on that saying she was entitled to a 5 year contract. That while it may apply to her case has serious implication for anyone employed by the University of Belize because what it is saying is that you at the University don't have any policy or procedure rules or handbook how you can be hired or fired and therefore you are just left out in the cold. So by us being able to take it to judicial review, we don't know what decision will be made but you know that there is a case that will finally determine what is the strength of that policy handbook when it comes to your terms of employment - that is the bigger picture of this case."

The case is important because it will finally decide how important that UB Faculty and Staff Handbook is in terms of establishing security of tenure at the university. It is notable that attorneys Denys Barrow and Herbert Panton submitted that McKay's terms of employment did not apply under the Faculty and Staff handbook when her contract was issued. She did not qualify as a tenured member of staff.

The case goes back to court for full hearing on May 20.