7 News Belize

Ashcroft Injunction
posted (May 18, 2010)
With the Privy Council motion dealt with, the Justices then moved on to the real business of the day. Seven appellants including Lord Michael Ashcroft, Keith Arnold, Phillip Zuniga and Dean Boyce have filed an application against the Attorney General in connection with an interim injunction granted in favor of the Government of Belize.

The injunction arises from the nationalization of Belize Telemedia. According to Ashcroft's attorneys, British barrister Nigel Pleming and Senior Counsel Eamon Courtenay, the injunction granted by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Awich is "wholly unfair and unjust" as it seeks to bar trustees of the Telemedia shares from seeking compensation for those shares through the International Arbitration process.

As we understand it, the amended Telecommunications Act sets out how compensation is to be handled within specific parameters through the Belize Supreme Court. However, if the Ashcroft Alliance were allowed to invoke arbitration under the International Investment Treaty signed between the United Kingdom and the Government of Belize, then the figures for compensation would foreseeable are much higher.

The arguments between Courtenay, Pleming and Senior Counsel Lois Young for the Attorney General today then were to have the Court of Appeal decide if the Awich injunction will continue to stand. Those submissions are scheduled to continue on Wednesday. The sitting Justices are President Manuel Sosa, Justice Dennis Morrison and newly sworn in brother Judge Brian Alleyne. Alleyne is the retired Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Court. He was sworn in as a judge of the Belize Court of Appeal on Monday.

Home | Archives | Downloads/Podcasts | Advertise | Contact Us

7 News Belize