Of course, Barrow is acting against the government as both attorney, as well as a claimant. But, had similar lawsuits been launched against his government, he would have been the one out in front, defending government's decisions - and probably appealing the judgements.
So today, we asked directly about that role reversal, now that he has returned to private law practice. Here's that back and forth:
Daniel Ortiz
"Taxpayers are the ones who, unfortunately, have to pay. Even though it's the Government of Belize, they are funded through taxpayers' dollars. And you were once the guardian of that. So how do you square off the role you're playing in this particular case? If Belizeans feel betrayed by the fact that in order to pursue Mr. Patt's rights, you inflicted an injury on the public as well?"
Dean Barrow, SC - Attorney for Hugo Patt
"No, no. They can't feel that. The government of the day inflicted the injury on them. They are the ones, together with the Commission of Inquiry, that absolutely cocked up the matter and did so, Daniel, in a fundamental way that was so outlandish that it boggles the mind as to how they could have done what they did. You have only to go look at commissions of inquiry that have occurred in our region, the Caribbean region, and commissions of inquiry and English law are the examples are replete with commissions of inquiry. But any serious effort to look at precedent, in order to determine how properly to constitute and conduct a commission of inquiry, would have shown immediately that the way they did it was altogether wrong, and they cannot be allowed they cannot be let off in so far as the fact that they are entirely to blame. There was nothing wrong with the notion of, in fact, mounting a commission of inquiry. The unions called for it. No doubt the public wanted it. Not a problem. But as a government advised by your attorney general, advised by all the lawyers you have working for you, surely, it was not a matter of any difficulty to have done this properly. The size of the award is a reflection of how badly they screwed up and inexcusably screwed up."
This morning, we contacted Senior Counsel E. Andrew Marskalleck, the Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry, for comment. He told us that he wasn't able to grant an interview for today's news deadline because he is currently out of the country. We'll keep making requests.
We also note that the Commission also has to engage in a legal battle against Godwin Hulse, another Former UDP Minister, who insists that the Commission's final report also defamed him.
