The PUP have a win under their belt after a 16-year drought. The problem, however, is that the win comes at the expense of democracy and the people of Belize. The PUP had applied to the Supreme Court to stop the referendum, a process by which Belizeans were being given an opportunity to make a decision on whether or not the Guatemalan claim over Belize should be taken to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
In his presentation, the Chief Justice ran through the history of the Referendum beginning with the origin of the Special Agreement where the Secretary General of the OAS recommended that the matter be taken to the ICJ as early as 2007.
He then tested whether the Minister of Foreign Affairs had the authority to enter into the Special Agreement as a treaty and if it was contrary to the Constitution. The argument was that the authority would be given to the ICJ to change Belize’s boundaries. To this, the CJ ruled that there was no certainty that this would take place since the referendum would decide that matter. The CJ said there was no ground there and the court would not engage in speculation.
He then tested whether the proper procedure was followed to reach the referendum. He ruled that there may have been some technicalities on how the process was executed and ruled that the matter should be ventilated in a full trial. He set April 8 for those arguments to be presented.
Attorney for the Government, Lisa Shoman, asked the judge to nonetheless allow for the referendum to take place but make it non-binding until the matter is heard in court. The CJ stated that he would not do so at this time but that an application could be submitted.
With that, the net effect is that the PUP has in effect blocked the democratic process in Belize.
