Lord Goldsmith QC, of the London office of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, has successfully represented the British Caribbean Bank (BCB) at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in its appeal against the Government of Belize.
The case concerned an injunction obtained by the Government of Belize, blocking the BCB from pursuing an international arbitration under the UK-Belize Bilateral Investment Treaty following nationalisation of Belize’s telecommunications industry in 2009.
The CCJ granted the BCB’s appeal from the decision of the Court of Appeal of Belize, discharging the injunction which had been in place since December 2010, and granting BCB its costs.
The decision has a potentially profound impact on the relationship between domestic courts and arbitration, essentially showing that it is only in the rarest of cases and in exceptional circumstances that a court may grant an injunction to stop an international arbitration commenced under a bilateral investment treaty.
The judgment will also come as a relief to British investors in Belize, as it confirms the 1982 UK-Belize Bilateral Investment Treaty is valid and binding on the Government of Belize, and there are no impediments to investors’ right to arbitrate against the Government under the Treaty.
The Debevoise team acting on the case was led by the firm’s European and Asian chair of litigation, Lord Goldsmith QC, who appeared as counsel in the CCJ on behalf of the BCB. The Debevoise team also included international counsel Jessica Gladstone and associates Nicola Leslie and Conway Blake.
At Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Lord Goldsmith QC continues to act as a barrister for a variety of clients alongside his role as chair of the firm’s European and Asian litigation practices. Most recently, he was awarded runner up in the Barrister of the Year category in The Lawyer Awards 2013, which recognise the foremost practitioners across private practice, the public sector, commerce and industry, and the Bar.
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is a leading international law firm, representing a wide range of clients in transactions and disputes around the world. Founded in 1931, the firm has offices in New York, Washington, D.C., London, Paris, Frankfurt, Moscow, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
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