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Well, at the end of yesterday's hearing with the CCJ, Eamon Courtenay, attorney for BISL, drew the judges' attention to the PM's publicly-declared position. He told us that the PM has already shown a pattern of disregard for court judgments against his government. Here are those comments:

Eamon Courtenay, SC - Attorney for BISL
"I wanted the court to be aware that the Prime Minister of Belize has utter and complete disrespect and contempt for the Caribbean Court of Justice. Before the court even gave its decision, he told the Belizean public two things, that he won't, and he can't pay. One is when you say I won't pay, that's like a "Rude Boy". Now, something is radically wrong in a democracy, that is governed by the rule of law when the Prime Minister of the country and the Minister of Finance can go to court, and when he won in the Supreme Court, he accepted that verdict. When he won in the Court of Appeal, he accepted that verdict. But when he loses, he says he will not pay. That type of behavior is what the court severely criticized. And what I asked the court to do was to ensure that we do not allow him to undermine the effectiveness of this judgment. What do I mean by that? Well, this government has a consistent pattern of CCJ ruling, Cruise Solutions, being one, where they said pay back the taxes that Cruise Solutions has paid. Up to this day, we have not gotten a dollar. The other one would be Belize Bank. The UHS debt, do you remember? They had that circus in the National Assembly, where they tendered a bill to authorize the payment, and then they voted against it? Not a dollar has been paid. Interest continues to accrue on both of these things. The people of Belize are paying more because of the circus that Mr. Barrow is performing. And I pointed out to the court, which we will put in evidence later this week, that here it is, even before he gets the judgment, if he loses, he is going to disrespect it. So, I'm asking the court to order that this be done on the evidence already filed so that we don't have a whole new trial, and secondly, that the matter be done in an expeditious manner, as quickly as possible, so that my clients can get the money that is rightly due to them."

But, at this time, the Government and the general public are already suffering financially due to the economic crisis created by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

We asked Courtenay about these very real cashflow problems that the Government must attempt to navigate around to keep the economy from completely crashing:

Reporter
"In the context of the entire rest of the world, and the pandemic that we're currently going through, this government, and the Belizean people are already going through hardship. It seems unlikely that Belize will be able to pay this debt any time soon. What are your thoughts on that?"

Eamon Courtenay, SC
"Well, I think what is interesting is that the law has always recognized that whether you be a member of the private sector or the public sector, if a judgment is issued against you, and you can't pay, you don't behave like a criminal. You come to court and say I cannot pay, but here are my accounts. Here is my income, here are my liabilities. And, the court goes through it, you're cross-examined, and the court says, okay, I will allow you to pay in installment because the judgment has to be respected. If you can't pay, then your goods are seized and sold. But, come to court. Show respect, and act under the rule of law. I would hope that good sense would prevail."

"I hope that Mr. Barrow will get off the cool-aid that he is drinking, and come in a proper and decent way, and try to resolve this issue because he has lost already. It's only Belizeans that suffer as he continues to fight."

We also asked the Attorney General about the prospect of collecting on this judgment debt against the Government of Belize:

Hon. Michael Peyrefitte - Attorney General
"The CCJ did not say pay 10 million dollars. The CCJ said it very clearly. Go back to the Supreme Court to have the Supreme Court assess whatever damages the Government is to pay. How can you pay before the Supreme Court has assessed that damage? I am sure that the Ashcroft people, the Ashcroft Crowd, will no doubt apply to the Supreme Court for the Supreme Court to assess those damages. We certainly will have our representation there, and we will either agree with what they're proposing or not agree with what they are proposing. And I imagine that experts will come in, and give their take on what the assessment should be. That has to be played out to the fullest, and if either party is not satisfied at the Supreme Court level, then you go to the Court of Appeal level. If you're not satisfied at the Court of Appeal, then you go to the CCJ. The Ashcroft people know that all too well. So, how can one say that the Prime Minister is blocking it when there hasn't even been an assessment as to how much is to be paid?"

Reporter
"The point they make is that even before the Prime Minister knew what the decision would have been today, he was already announcing that Belize can't pay, wouldn't pay."

Hon. Michael Peyrefitte
"Well, I think that it is clear by the constitution, that no matter what, Dean Barrow won't be Prime Minister beyond November 2020. I highly doubt that the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, and the CCJ would decide on an assessment of damages before November 1st, 2020. It's just a wild guess. So, that's the position of the Prime Minister, that he won't pay as long as he is Prime Minister. But, I think that's a moot point because I don't think there would be a final adjudication as to how much you will pay until long after Dean Barrow is not Prime Minister."