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Justice Denys Barrow – he’s one of the most well respected and well liked personalities in Belize’s legal community; he’s also an internationally respected jurist, who’s presently in Geneva Switzerland at the headquarters of the International Labor Organization where he is one of 24 eminent international jurists who sit on the ILO committee of experts.

But all that eminence matters very little to Belize Electricity Limited which is asking the Court of Appeals to set aside a judgment in which Barrow was part of the panel of judges that heard the case. It was an appeal of a Supreme Court decision in which the BEL lost to the PUC. And BEL also lost the appeal which was handed down in an oral decision on October 27TH. And now, BEL wants that October decision set aside and the appeal to be re-heard before a panel of judges that does not include Barrow. And that’s because BEL claims that there is the appearance that Barrow may have been partial in carrying out his duties as a judge.

Now, accusing a judge of showing bias....that is a delicate subject and in the application, it is delicately worded; here’s what the document from the law firm of Musa and Balderamos says, “(the circumstances) give rise to a reasonable apprehension or suspicion on the part of a fair minded and informed member of the public that (Justice) Barrow lacked impartiality.”

What are those circumstances? First, the application states that Barrow is listed on the Barrow and Company website as a member of that law firm. BEL’s attorney, Anthony Sylvester points out in the application that the same law firm has an “ongoing client relationship” with the PUC. Second, the BEL application points out that Justice Barrow’s son Kimano is a Commissioner of the board of the PUC – a commissioner appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister – who is Justice Barrow’s brother.

And that brings us to the third assertion – made in an affidavit from Rene Blanco, BEL’s business manager who sat in during the Appeals court hearing: he claims that in the courtroom Justice Barrow appeared “extremely opposed” to BEL’s position. Blanco notes that Justice Barrow is Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s brother and the PM – claims the application – has publicly expressed displeasure with BEL in the past. The application was filed with the registrar a week ago and the court has not yet responded.

Now is it just a frivolous complaint, or is it the kind of thing that could shake up The Court of Appeals and its newest judge? Well, that’s for the court to decide. But legal observers we spoke to stress that the question is not whether Justice Barrow was biased – that’s not even being questioned really; the question for the court is, does the man or woman in the street – or as the Chief Justice likes to put it – at the Queen’s Square Market – do they feel that there could have been bias? The lawyer for BEL says there could be “a reasonable apprehension or suspicion...that Barrow lacked impartiality.” Now we’ll see what the court says.

We could not reach Justice Barrow for comment because as we noted earlier he is abroad.