And amidst all those weighty matters in and around court - there was a historic first - as the very first judgment of the Caribbean Court of Justice decision on a case from Belize was delivered by teleconference form the CCJ in Trinidad.
It is the case of The Attorney General of Belize versus former ministers Jose Coye and Florencio Marin. The allegation was that while in ministerial office, they arranged the transfer of 56 parcels of State land to a company beneficially owned and/or controlled by one of them and the price paid by the purchasing company was almost $1 million below market value.
Originally, The Chief Justice found that there was no malfeasance on the part of the ministers, but the Court of Appeal reversed that decision. So, Coye and Marin took it to the CCJ - and that court today dismissed the appeal by Coye and Marin. It's a significant defeat for the two retired politicians, though it's hard to say right now how consequential it will be going forward.
But, the judgment also has wider implications; The meaning of this is that once they leave office, ministers and other public officials can be tried for malfeasance while they were in public office and this action can be brought by the Attorney general.
Costs were awarded to the attorney General. Elson Kaseke appeared for Coye, Magali Marin for Florencio Marin and Lois Young for the attorney general's office…
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