CCJ Sends Andrew Bennett’s Case Back to Square One

Belize’s top court has hit reset on the Andrew Bennett extradition case. The Caribbean Court of Justice threw out earlier rulings after finding the lower courts relied on a law that wasn’t even in force at the time. At the center: WhatsApp messages the U.S. wants to use as evidence. Bennett has long argued those messages were unlawfully obtained and violated his constitutional rights. Lower courts agreed the evidence was improperly gathered, but still cleared the way for extradition, saying other evidence was enough. The CCJ says that reasoning doesn’t hold up, because it was based on the Interception of Communications Act, which only took effect in November 2023, years after the messages in question. The court stopped short of deciding whether the WhatsApp evidence is unconstitutional. Instead, it sent the case back to the High Court for a fresh review, giving both sides a chance to fully argue the legal boundaries around digital evidence.

 

Justice Denys Barrow, Caribbean Court of Justice

“At this Court, it was discovered at the stage of written submissions that the Interception of Communications Act only came into force in November 2023, after the dates of both the High Court and Court of Appeal cases. The CCJ accordingly declared that the reliance on that statute by the lower courts was an error in law or per incuriam, as historically described in a Latin expression. The Appellant sought, notwithstanding this discovery, to have the CCJ decide the appeal on the basis that the use of the WhatsApp messages was unconstitutional on broader, generally recognized principles. The bench rejected that approach and determined that the asserted but not fully argued issue of unconstitutionality on a broader non-statutory basis could only be fairly resolved by remitting the matter to the High Court, giving the parties the fullest opportunity to pursue these arguments if they chose to do so. Having regard to the opinions expressed the Court ordered that the matter be remitted to the High Court.”

 

There was no order as to cost in this CCJ appeal.

 

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