BELMOPAN, Thurs. Jan. 28, 2021– Today the Upper House of Parliament held a special sitting. The main order of the day was the ratification of the UN Foreign Arbitral Awards Convention. Senators debated this motion at length before it was voted on and finally ratified into the laws of Belize.

The United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, otherwise known as the New York Convention, was adopted in a United Nations diplomatic conference on 10th June 1958 and was enforced on 7th June 1959. In 1980, the legislature of Belize had amended the Arbitration Act “to give effect the New York Convention the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.”

Since it was already embedded within the laws of Belize, the motion on whether to ratify the New York Convention and the motive to do so at this time was the main topic of discussion.

“Madam President, in opening the debate on this issue, there are a few important points I would like to highlight and to address some of the issues which I understand have been in the public domain. The first point, Madam President, to make clear to this honorable Senate is that the New York Convention which we seek permission of the Senate to ratify is and has been the law of Belize since 1980, more than 40 years ago. It has been the law of this country; in fact, it has been the law of this country prior to independence,” said Senator Eamon Courtenay.

The lead government senator stated that the Government of Belize is in the process of negotiating a debt instrument with certain parties which require that this convention be ratified within our laws before talks can continue.

“We are facing a fiscal deficit of such an amount that we are unable, on the current path, to pay our obligations are they come due. It requires debt relief. That is what we are engaged in,” Senator Courtenay explained.

He shared that at present, there are currently three outstanding arbitral awards against the country of Belize. Lead Opposition Senator Michael Peyrefitte noted that all those judgments are connected to companies in the interest of Lord Michael Ashcroft.

Senator Peyrefitte asserted, “Senator Courtenay said that this has nothing to do with Michael Ashcroft, but Madam President, the only arbitral awards that we have put there are for companies associated with or that belong to Michael Ashcroft.”

These awards include the Belize Social Development LTD award, which is for 211 million dollars. This case was arbitrated in the US after the CCJ ruled that the award could not be enforced in Belize. Because the country has no foreign assets for the courts to seize, the arbitral award remains unpaid. The second is a judgment made in favor of British Caribbean Bank Holdings for 29 million dollars. The third is the famed UHS case award, which is for 147 million dollars and was litigated at the CCJ. In 2017 the high court delivered a judgment order saying that the award can be enforced domestically.

According to Senator Peyrefitte, since all these awards are connected directly to Lord Ashcroft, the ratification of this UN convention is solely to his benefit.

However, in his presentation, Senator Courtenay shared that Belize will seek to annex a reservation to the convention which will protect the country from the enforcement of previous awards. He shared that the convention will apply to only new arbitral awards.

“It is the intention of the Government that if the Senate authorizes this ratification, to enter a reservation as advised by international arbitration experts to the effect that Belize’s ratification is on the basis that it will not have retroactive effect.” Senator Courtenay stressed.

In his presentation, Senator Michael Peyrefitte stated that the Opposition was not consulted prior to the meeting of the Senate. He said that this constituted a breakaway from the PUP’s promise for transparency and openness and asserted that even the negotiations which triggered the ratification were shrouded in secrecy.

In responding to the assertion that the UDP government was in fact paying the UHS debt, Senator Peyrefitte said that the claim was untrue. “The UDP government did not pay any of these arbitral awards while we were in government, and we did not start the process of ratifying this convention in the Senate,” he said.

In outlining the reasons for his refusal to support the motion, Senator Peyrefitte said, “I say that this ratification is for the benefit and full of Michael Ashcroft. This government is showing to the Belizean people that when it comes to him, they are prepared to do anything to make sure he gets what he wants, while the Belizean people have to be told that inna one month they nuh wa have no more food. This is wrong. This has only one intention, and I cannot support this motion.”

In responding to Senator Peyrefitte’s claims, the Lead Government Senator revealed a string of correspondence that suggested that the previous administration was, in fact, on a fast track to push through the ratification of the Convention before the 2020 General Elections. Of note, in his presentation, Senator Peyrefitte made mention of a proposed deal put forward by Michael Ashcroft to consolidate the outstanding arbitral awards and have them added to the Super Bond.

“Madam President, we are dealing with a debt crisis in this country. The United Democratic Party started these negotiations. They came here pretending that they nuh know weh we di talk about.” Senator Courtenay said.

He continued, “This goes back to September 2020. This is coming from the person from the international institution to a CEO.” He went on to read the exchange from the document: “Rep: ‘Any word on the ratification?’ GOB rep: ‘I have a call this afternoon with [blank] the minister to discuss.’ Rep: ‘Best case scenario will be if GOB can ratify.’”

Courtenay continued, “Let me tell you what the CEO said: CEO: ‘Yes, I am pushing for that. I told the Minister (we nuh wa call no name) that we can do that before the election to ensure that the ball keeps rolling. Rep: ‘Great thanks.’ They come yah and pretend that they were not doing it.”

After a back and forth between Courtenay and Senator Peyrefitte, who called for a division of vote after the debate, which was not allowed by the President of the Senate, the senators finally voted once again and the ratification of the New York Convention was finalized.