Category: Law

An application for judicial review of the appointment of an administrator at Saint Francis Xavier Credit Union Limited, filed on behalf of the board of directors and general manager, has been dismissed by the High Court.  Earlier today, Justice Martha Alexander handed down a decision in the matter that was lodged in the Senior Courts of Belize in April 2023.  Executives of the lending institution have been at odds with the Registrar of Credit Unions since a decision was taken last year to assign a manager to oversee the day-to-day operations of SFXCU.  They then sought a declaration from the court that the decision of the Registrar of Credit Unions was unlawful and that the appointment be quashed.  In refusing to consider the claimants’ request, Justice Alexander made several determinations, as explained by Senior Counsel Andrew Marshalleck.

Andrew Marshalleck, SC, Attorney-at-law

“As you are aware there was a challenge to the appointment of an administrator by the Registrar of Credit Unions over the St. Francis Xavier Credit Union.  That was done because he had expressed the view that given certain administrative and other problems, the stability of the credit union was at risk and he thought that he needed to appoint an administrator to take over management and to put matters right in order to safeguard the interests of members of the credit union.  That decision was challenged on a number of bases, most of which failed.  The decision this morning, first off, the judge confirmed that Section 61:1 of the credit union act which empowers the registrar to appoint an administrator, does not require that there be liquidity or financial problems before the appointment is made and it’s a, when you think about it, a common sense approach because even before there were liquidity or financial problems the registrar should be able to intervene in order to prevent the liquidity or financial problems.  That‘s part of his function, part of his role.  So where he sees that things are being managed in such a way that they were headed in a wrong path, he can intervene to set them right.  So the section was interpreted by the court to allow for that, that the three separate limbs or bases on which you can, the registrar can intervene to appoint an administrator, the first of which is that there are liquidity problems, second of which are other financial problems and then a third, more general, is administrative or other problems that jeopardizes the stability of the credit union.  It was on that third limb that the registrar acted in this case and the court also went on to find that the appointment was reasonable, having regards to the investigative reports, examinations and other correspondents that was before the court, that the registrar was perfectly entitled in those circumstances to invoke Section 61:1 to appoint an administrator.”

According to attorney Marshalleck, of the ten issues that were put forward in the application for judicial review, the claimants were only successful in having quashed a fine of two thousand dollars that was levied against the credit union.  The High Court ruled that the decision by the Registrar of Credit Unions to fine SFXCU was ultra vires and illegal.

Andrew Marshalleck, S.C., Attorney-at-law

“In this type of case, an administrator [that] the registrar had seen certain activity and he decided that he would impose an administrative penalty and the ruling in that case, he had imposed a two thousand [dollar] penalty for the failure to provide proof that certain steps he had ordered to be taken, be taken by a particular time.  They held that that imposition of that administrative penalty was outside the scope of the act, so the requirements of the section which allows for the imposition of administrative penalties were not satisfied in that instance. Well like any other decision of the High Court it’s subject to appeal.  As to whether they will or not, that’s for them, that’s their right to pursue it if they wish.  But there were some, by my count, ten issues that were decided and one was decided in their favor, nine went against and I had listed to you the first four.  I can quickly give you the others.  The court also held that there was no breach of natural justice because the fact of consultation and because the appointment of the board, officers and managers of the credit union was automatically suspended when the administrator was appointed.  It’s not that an independent decision was made to relieve the board and these officers of their duties.  That was an automatic consequence of the appointment of their administrator and there had been consultation as required by the act the week before the appointment of the administrator was made.”

The Customs and Excise Department confirmed, via a press release, that it has seized an amount of liquor from the Victor L. Bryant Warehouse in Belize City. The liquor is suspected to be uncustomed and bearing fraudulent Supplies Control Unit labels. The department carried out an operation at the warehouse on Monday. According to the release, the department is currently conducting a detailed exercise to confirm the actual quantity and value of the seized liquor. The department is also working closely with the Supplies Control Unit to investigate the apparent fraudulent labels. In their release, the Customs and Excise Department placed emphasis on the fact that it is an ongoing investigation and that its officers are working diligently to ascertain the extent of the seizure. We will continue to follow this story.

The declaration of the state of emergency has resulted in several police raids in areas of high gang activity or in the homes of crime affiliated individuals. On Tuesday morning, during one of those raids, an officer of the Mobile Interdiction Team was discovered in the homes of one of the targeted individuals. Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams said that the officer, John Gamboa, is a relative of the homeowner and wasn’t breaking any law by being there.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“I think Mister Gamboa lives with the daughter of one of the person in that particular area. They are his in-laws. If there was nothing illegal found at the home when the police raided, then I don’t see what charges can be levied against him. It would have been good if he was not there, certainly. But again, his common-law and his child live there. And if he sees the need to go and visit them, then we can’t stop him.”

Reporter

“Do you see this as a possible compromise in terms of information reaching out of the police department, given the familiarity between these two persons?”

Chester Williams

“I don’t think so because Jean Gamboa would not have known of the SOE. And if a matter of fact, if he had the information then, and he would have shared it, then we would not have found nobody at the house.”

Reporter

“But in terms of other operations, the MIT might be going on, that he could warn somebody living in the house?”

Chester Williams

“Certainly, that’s something we’ll have to look at.”

A pregnant woman is spending her first night behind bars for failure to comply with the conditions of her Visitor’s permit. The Salvadoran, twenty-five-year-old Martha Hernandez, was caught living illegally in Belize after she had reportedly been here for more than five years. She pleaded guilty to the charge and was ordered to pay her fine of a thousand dollars forthwith, or she would spend six months behind bars. Hernandez paid the fine, and the magistrate ordered her expulsion. Hernandez will await her expulsion from Belize, which is expected about a week or so from today. Hernandez, who is in the early stages of pregnancy, was charged with failure to comply with the conditions of her visitor’s permit. Authorities say that Hernandez was found at the San Pedro Express Water Taxi Terminal in Belize City and could not produce any form of documentation to show her status in Belize. According to the immigration facts, on Thursday morning, the Belize City Immigration Investigation Unit conducted routine checks at the San Pedro Belize Express Water Taxi Terminal, where persons of interest were stopped and asked to produce a form of identification. In doing so, she could not provide any documentation to show that she is Belizean, and she was taken to the Belize City Immigration Department Office, where it was discovered that her Salvadoran passport, which was issued on January fifth, had expired. Hernandez entered Belize in September of 2018 through the Western Border and was later issued an extension to remain in Belize until February of 2019, but she got another extension thereafter.

This week, we reported on the matter involving Aaron Wilson, who was detained for almost a day on grounds that he was boisterous towards a police officer when he confronted her at the police station in Ladyville. As it turned out, the police officer had hung up the phone on Wilson and he went to the station to tell her about it. Well, Wilson was held for about twenty-two hours, and following that, Crown Counsel, Riis Cattouse fired off a letter to the Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams in which he criticized the police for what he felt was frequent violation of the human rights of persons who are detained. The matter did not sit well with Williams or the Minister of Home Affairs, Kareem Musa, who both thought it was unfortunate that Cattouse had that to say. Today, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Cheryl-Lynn Vidal told reporters that it is not what Cattouse said that she had a problem with, but the way he went about it.

Cheryl-Lyn Vidal, Director of Public Prosecutions

“Whenever a file is being advised on and there has been any impropriety on the part of the police, the [Crown] Counsel would write about it in their memoranda. Perhaps this is the first time it has been sent to the media.”

Reporter

“Okay, so this is standard practice for the Crown Counsel to engage the Commissioner in this manner?”

Cheryl-Lyn Vidal

“I don’t think the Commissioner directly, but anytime a file is sent to the office and there is some evidence of impropriety on the part of the police and the Counsel will speak on it. I do not believe that Counsel has in the past written directly to the Commissioner in that manner, but it is not as though the DPP’s office is in the habit of endorsing police impropriety.”

Reporter

“Do you endorse the fact that Crown Counsel Cattouse decided, you know what, this is a matter that I should, and he took it upon himself to write to the Commissioner of Police?”

Cheryl-Lyn Vidal

“No, that part of it is not endorsed.”