By: Omar Silva I Editor/Publisher

🗞️ National Perspective Belize |Digital 2025

www.nationalperspectivebz.com

Belize City: Saturday 31st May 2025

In a stunning blow to its credibility, the Briceño Administration has been handed a legal defeat so sharp it may go down as one of the most humiliating reversals in Belize’s democratic history. The Court of Appeal has decisively ruled against the Government of Belize in not one, but two landmark cases involving former Prime Minister Dean Barrow and former Deputy Prime Minister Hugo Patt—both victims of a politically-motivated Commission of Inquiry (COI) orchestrated by the very government now footing the bill.

What was once hailed as a bold transparency initiative has now turned into a cautionary tale of political overreach, constitutional violations, and taxpayer-funded embarrassment.

🔥 A “Blatant Violation of Natural Justice”

The Appeals Court affirmed what legal observers long suspected: the Marshalleck Commission of Inquiry into the sale of government assets was never about justice—it was about political spectacle.

• Dean Barrow, once the primary target of the Commission’s pungent accusations, was awarded $185,000 in damages.
• Hugo Patt, publicly shamed without due process, received $145,000, including vindicatory damages to underscore the severity of the constitutional breach.
• Godwin Hulse, another former minister caught in the political dragnet, had already secured a payout of $105,000.

Altogether, nearly $1 million in legal losses and compensations are now being borne by Belizean taxpayers—all because the government failed to follow the basic principles of due process and fairness.

The court was blunt: Barrow’s right to be heard was violated. The COI made unsubstantiated claims and failed to issue critical Salmon letters—a procedural requirement to warn individuals before damning conclusions are drawn.

🌀 Karma in Real Time: PUP Mirrors the UDP Abuses

To add insult to injury, the Briceño Administration is now engaging in the same actions it once denounced.

Land scandals. Political favoritism. Questionable allocations.

Just like under the Barrow-Hugo Patt era, murmurings are once again surfacing of sweetheart land deals, insider privileges, and partisan appointments. The only difference? The party color has changed.

This raises the damning question: Was the Commission of Inquiry ever about corruption, or just a staged vendetta against political enemies?

🧾 Who Pays? The People.

The public was told the COI was a righteous pursuit of transparency. Instead, it became a reckless exercise in defamation that violated constitutional protections and made a mockery of justice.

Now, Belizeans are left to pay:

• Court-ordered damages
• Massive legal fees, including for foreign senior counsel Douglas Mendes
• And the cost of a Commission whose report has now been gutted by the judiciary

A Commission that was supposed to uphold integrity has left a legal and moral stain—and emptied the public purse.

⚖️ What the Courts Really Said

• “Pungent language,” said the judges, referring to the Commission’s tone.
• “A blatant violation of the right to natural justice,” they declared.
• “Unsubstantiated,” “unfair,” “procedurally deficient”—the Court found fault at every turn.

In upholding the awards, the Court of Appeal didn’t mince words: the Government of Belize trampled the rights of citizens in a cynical attempt to score political points.

🧨 The Political Fallout

This is not just a courtroom loss—it is a collapse of the moral platform the Briceno government stood on.

• It reveals a government more obsessed with optics than with law.
• It confirms what critics warned: that COIs can be weaponized.
• And it proves that no administration—PUP or UDP—can escape the rule of law.

Prime Minister Briceno, who personally ordered the Commission, must now explain to the Belizean people why his government orchestrated a legally flawed process that wasted public money and undermined justice.

🗣️ Public Outcry Building?

The ruling should trigger a national conversation:

How many more millions will Belizeans pay for political theatre disguised as governance?

When will we see real reform—not recycled revenge?

This is a wake-up call to the electorate: Beware of governments that claim to fight corruption while silently repeating it. If this COI was the flagship of “Plan Belize,” the ship has clearly sunk.

📣 FINAL VERDICT

The Briceño Administration tried to play judge, jury, and executioner.

Now, the courts have judged them instead.

They’ve lost the legal battle. They’ve lost public trust. And the people—once again—are left to count the cost.