CCJ orders Belize’s courts to reconsider its decision on the extradition of Andrew Bennett

The Caribbean Court of Justice has set aside previous rulings in the extradition matter involving Belizean attorney Andrew Bennett and ordered that the case be sent back to the High Court for reconsideration. In its judgment delivered today, the CCJ found that the lower courts relied on legislation that was not yet in force at the time the disputed evidence was obtained.  The case centers on extradition proceedings brought against Bennett at the request of the United States Government over allegations linked to money laundering. Both the Belize High Court and Court of Appeal had previously ruled that the messages were obtained in breach of Bennett’s constitutional rights under Belize’s Interception of Communications Act and could not be used as evidence. However, the CCJ discovered that the Act, though passed years earlier, was only officially brought into force in November 2023, after both courts had already made their decisions.  The regional court described the earlier reliance on that legislation as a legal error, or “per incuriam,” meaning the decisions were made without awareness that the law was not yet operational.  As a result, the CCJ ruled that the findings of unconstitutional conduct could not stand in their current form and that the constitutional questions surrounding the use of the WhatsApp evidence must now be properly reconsidered by the Belize High Court.  A key issue in the matter involved the use of WhatsApp messages allegedly exchanged between Bennett and an undercover U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent.  The United States formally requested the extradition of attorney Bennett from Belize in December 2017. According to the court record, the extradition request was made pursuant to the extradition treaty between United States and Belize and related to money laundering charges filed in the U.S. District of Puerto Rico.  /////