BELIZE Law and Practice Contributed by: Nigel Ebanks and Darinka Muñoz, Barrow and Williams LLP
the court may treat the application as unopposed and determine it on the papers. Respondents may also file affidavit evidence in response within 14 days, and applicants have seven days thereafter to file any reply evidence. Where a respondent does not oppose the relief sought, they must instead file a Notice of Consent The rules mentioned in 4.1 Interim Applications/ Motions also provide for the summary disposal of proceedings, in whole or in part, by various means. These include the powers of the court to grant sum- mary judgment on any issue or issues, or to strike out the whole or any part of a case. The rules allow for summary judgment on any issue or part of a case where there is no real prospect of success for the opposing party. In addition, a party may apply to strike out the entire claim or defence if it discloses no reasonable grounds for bringing or defending a claim, or where the pleading constitutes an abuse of the court’s process. 4.3 Dispositive Motions Summary judgment and applications to strike out the whole or any part of another’s case are the primary dispositive motions used in the Belize High Court. It is fair to say that a strike-out order is now considered a “nuclear option”. Its use is generally limited to clear cases where a claim is obviously unsustainable or an abuse of process, as highlighted in Claim No 35 of 2020 Woodye et al v Attorney General of Belize . There, Justice James stated that strike-out motions should be reserved for cases that lack merit and where no further investigation will assist the court in reaching the correct outcome. In addition, preliminary issues may be decided to dispose of the case or to limit its triable scope. 4.4 Requirements for Interested Parties to Join a Lawsuit within the same seven-day period. 4.2 Early Judgment Applications Previously, it was not unusual for interested parties not named as a claimant or defendant to join a lawsuit as an “interested party”. Belize’s Senior Courts (Civil
Procedure) Rules permit the court to add, remove or substitute a party at the case management confer- ence, upon application. The court also has the author- ity to do this of its own initiative. However, this practice is coming under increas- ing scrutiny, primarily because of the management of additional costs considerations arising from the involvement of an additional party that might have no true lis in the proceedings. In those instances where the participation of an interested party is permitted, provision should be made for a proper delineation of the scope of that party’s involvement and the costs implications thereof. 4.5 Applications for Security for Defendant’s Costs A defendant may apply to court for an order that a claimant provides security for that defendant’s costs. These orders are perhaps most common where: • the claimant resides outside the jurisdiction; • the claimant has no assets or means within the jurisdiction to which the defendant might look to satisfy a court order; and • the claimant’s case against the defendant is not particularly strong. In Civil Appeal No 26 of 2016 Fort Street Tourism Vil- lage v Suzanne Kilic , the Belize Court of Appeal held that a defendant must show that there is a real risk that there will be difficulty in enforcing an order for costs. Even if a claimant resides in a country that is included in the Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments (Exten- sion) Order, a defendant can still succeed in such an application if they can prove difficulty in enforcing a cost award. The manner of posting security includes the claimant’s payment of a specified sum into court in order to abide by the terms of any costs order that the court might ultimately make in the defendant’s favour. 4.6 Costs of Interim Applications/Motions The costs of interim applications can be ordered to be paid relative to the date on which that application is disposed of or at a later date, including by factoring the liability for those costs into the final costs order made at the end of the substantive claim.
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