By Belize Live News Staff: The Court of Appeal has delivered another crushing blow to the Briceño administration—this time in favor of former Deputy Prime Minister Hugo Patt, who has been awarded $145,000 for blatant constitutional rights violations tied to the 2021 Commission of Inquiry.
According to the court, Patt was named and blamed in the COI’s final report without ever being notified. The Commission skipped a key legal step: the Salmon letter, a mandatory warning giving a person the chance to respond before being accused of wrongdoing. The result? A total violation of Patt’s right to natural justice.
The government fought back, saying Patt didn’t prove his emotional distress and that the payout was too high. But the court didn’t buy it—calling Patt’s testimony “plain and unambiguous” and slamming the Commission’s failure to follow legal protocol.
At the same time, former PM Dean Barrow scored his own legal win. The Court upheld his $185,000 payout, including $125,000 for reputational damage and $60,000 in vindicatory damages. Most notably, the court ordered that nearly all references to Barrow be wiped clean from the COI report, citing “serious rights violations.”
The message from the court is loud and clear: government inquiries must play by the rules—or pay the price.
Together, Patt and Barrow walk away with a combined $330,000 in taxpayer-funded compensation, plus full legal costs. It’s a resounding defeat for the state—and a legal earthquake that calls the entire COI process into question.
