PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS TO BE DISCUSSED

July 14, 2008

During today’s sitting of the House of Representatives one of the bills passed was an amendment to the Supreme Court and Judicature Act. Prime Minister Dean Barrow explained the need for the amendment.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

“We are amending that provision of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act on which Telemedia relies as conferring the right to a suspension of the order for the income tax fixed to be paid. There seems to be some conflict Mr. Speaker between the Income and Business Tax act and the Supreme Court of Judicature Act.  The income and Business Tax act makes it very clear, once the Commissioner of Income tax assesses you, you can dispute that all you will but you must pay while your challenge as to the validity of the assessment is taking place. In the course of that assessment by the Commissioner of Income Tax, you don’t pay, the Magistrate makes an order for you to pay. Now the argument is that when the Magistrate does that n his order is then caught by the Supreme Court of Judicature Act which says that in the normal course decisions of a Magistrate that are appealed are suspended until the appeal is heard. Well we are not prepared to contenant even a possible conflict between the Supreme Court of Judicature Act and the Income and Business Tax Act. We feel that the whole scheme and philosophy behind the business and Income Tax Act is what should prevail. As that Act says you can challenge all you want but in the meantime you must pay, you can’t have the tax payer keeping the Government at bay.  What we’re seeking to do today is to amend the Supreme Court and Judicature Act to make it absolutely clear that any order of the Magistrate obliging a tax payer to pay the tax assessed shall not be suspended upon that tax payer appealing that decision of the Magistrate.  We’re not making it retroactive of course, this is going forward but the urgency is required because as members on both sides will know this question of the outstanding business tax owed by Telemedia is an ongoing one. Every month we have to issue some new proceeding to try and collect the business tax owed for that particular month so while the tax that has already been ordered paid by the Magistrate may or may not be caught by this Supreme Court of Judicature Act as I said we don’t think it is, but we’re challenging that; it will mean that once the House passes this new law, there will be no question of Telemedia being able to say I am not going to pay while my opinion is being heard. Of course Mr. Speaker because we are fair, we are also providing in the bill that if Telemedia or any other tax payer appeals, they have to pay but if they win their appeal, they will get back what they paid together with such rate of interest as the Supreme Court might award, what can be fairer.

Prime Minister Barrow also addressed the issue of the ongoing consultations as it relates to the proposed constitutional amendments.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

“Let me take this opportunity of assuring all those that attended the public hearing that we will be making such changes as the position they expressed merit. For sure we will take out that portion of the proposed amendment dealing with mineral rights that suggests or that mandates or that gives Government the authority to turn over its title to the oil company, we’re going to scrap that. And we will not bring not bring back the bill for passage unless and until we have before that time circulated the draft ordinary law that would implement the provision having to do with the recall of elected officials.”

A round table discussion facilitated by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry will be held this evening. Kevin Herrera, General Manager of the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry told us more.

Kevin Herrera, General Manager of Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry

“The purpose of the discussion is really for us to go over the proposed sixth amendment to the Belize Constitution. These amendments as you know has been discussed in the public quite at length and still there are many questions and issues that continue to arise from them. The Chamber in an effort to provide more information out there is organizing roundtable to discuss the proposed sixth amendment bill, to discuss its contents, to possibly look at the implications and to look at the views that people have been forwarding to date. The panelists include Senator Godwin Hulse, Senator Henry Gordon, Jacqueline Marshalleck president of the Bar Association.”

The roundtable discussion will be aired live on Love Fm starting at 8 this evening.

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