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The Briceno Administration has suffered another legal setback in the High Court.
Earlier this week, Justice Genevieve Chabot found for Godwin Hulse in a lawsuit against the Commission of Inquiry into the Sale of Government Assets. In its Report, the Commission accused Hulse of wrongdoing while he was a government Minister.
It alleged without proof, or without questioning Hulse directly that he had acquired a government vehicle in a manner that was not transparent.
But, this was not proven - and Hulse's attorney, Magali Perdomo argued to the court that it was also untrue.
In 2022, he told us he found it reckless and malicious.
Voice of: Godwin Hulse, Former UDP Minister
"When I read that portion of the report which is housed in section 18, I found it to be absolutely reckless, irresponsible, malicious and attempt at character assassination. The commission covered themselves by using the terminology "it is also more likely than not" nobody puts that in a report which is supposed to be accurate and it supposed to report the findings of serious investigations. That is what you called cover you A words, more likely than not. They also hid behind the fact that of course they know well, especially the chairman who is a senior counsel, he knows full well that the commission under section 9, subsection 2 of the commission of inquiry act chapter 127 of the laws of Belize says no commissioner shall be liable to any action or suit for any matter or thing done by him as such commissioner. So they feel that they could get away with this sort of character assassination."
The Commission of Inquiry's defence attorney, Hector Guerra offered no defence because the Defendants accepted liability. The judge noted, quote, "They admit that the Commission violated the Claimant's right to be heard and infringed his constitutional right to the protection of the law. They concede that the Claimant is entitled to compensatory damages for distress and inconvenience"
With that the judge awarded Hulse Compensatory damages of $75,000, and vindicatory damages of $30,000 - which is just a little less than he asked for. Damages in this case are mounting, former Prime Minister Dean Barrow was awarded $125,000 in compensatory damages, and $60,000 in vindicatory damages while Hugo Patt, the former Deputy Prime Minister was awarded $95,000 in compensatory damages, and $50,000 in vindicatory damages for similar allegations. We note that none of these awards have been paid.
