Last night 7news broke the story about the legal opinion that it appears the government didn't want its own ministers to see, much less the public. That's the opinion penned in April of 2023 by Ben Juratowich - government's lead attorney in the ICJ defence of our territory - and also an expert on arbitration and commercial law.
One man who has studied the findings in that opinion closely is former Prime Minister Dean Barrow. That's because two weeks ago, he reached the same conclusion as Juratowich: the Definitive Agreement is illegal because it seeks to bind the parliament - which no agreement can do.
That's what Barrow put out in a statement on June 16th - when Minister Francis Fonseca reported to the house of representatives - that they had another legal opinion which stated that the UDP's Erwin Contreras had the legal authority to sign a definitive agreement. Barrow said, quote, "this is a contract that purported to fetter, to bind, Parliament. That alone made it patently illegal, utterly void."
Juratowich told government the same in April. Barrow - whose government had also retained Juratowich discussed that legal opinion today:
Dean Barrow, Former Prime Minister
"His conclusion on unenforceability in consequence of the illegality constituted by the violation of the separation of powers doctrine. The fact that the minister and therefore the executive contracted to produce, to have parliament pursue a certain course of action and to have parliament produced a particular result. That you will see Dr. Juratowich said is absolutely beyond the pale. So that was the kill shot and in terms of that kill shot, he made it plain there can be no argument."
"End of story. That definitive, so-called definitive agreement is unenforceable, it is illegal, it is void."
"I thought that was absolutely the way to finish and he finished not with a flourish, but with an emphatic punto finale."
