7 News Belize

AG Says CCJ Judgement Was Emotional
posted (July 1, 2020)
We also asked the Attorney General for his take on the potential political consequences of this major loss at the CCJ by the Barrow Administration.

The next general election is due in a few months, and the judgement can politically haemorrhage the UDP. And with the the CCJ calling the registries nationalization an "abuse of state power", there is much political mileage to be made.

When we asked the AG about that, he said that this judgment is a double-edged blade, or a sort of "pania machete", that can hurt both political parties. Here's that part of the conversation, where we challenged him on the CCJ's rebuke of the nationalization:

Reporter
"The decision to nationalize was "unilateral, high-handed, contextually arbitrary, inconsistent with the good standards of governance, a breach of the duty of good faith, contractually unreasonable, fundamentally unfair, an abuse of …power" - many different, other negative interpretations of the nationalization."

Hon. Michael Peyrefitte - Attorney General
"Well, Like I said, very emotional judgment, and we won't stoop to that level. Clearly, the court of the first instance did not feel that way. The Court of Appeal did not feel that way, and the CCJ, they have a right to feel that way. We don't agree, but they are the CCJ. And let - if the PUP tries to use this, I'm sure the public will remind them, that this judgment also says that that arrangement with Michael Ashcroft, which they entered into in 1993, and extended from 2005 to 2020, was an illegal contract. This very same judgment states very clearly, that this contract is tainted with illegality. So, how can the PUP use that as a weapon, when the foundation of the entire situation stems from the fact that they entered into an illegal contract with Michael Ashcroft?"

Reporter
"But the fact of the matter remains, sir. Perception is important, and they can spin this to say well, see, the high court says that they abused their authority, and their executive powers and you were referring to us in the last election cycle as malignant tumors, what do you say for yourself?"

Hon. Michael Peyrefitte
"I will say that's the only victory the PUP will have for the next couple of months."

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

7 News Belize