A HIGH COURT judge in Belize has raised concerns about former attorney general Anand Ramlogan, SC, who is representing three Belizeans who sought an interim injunction to halt the March 12 general election.
Justice Tawanda Hondora denied the interim injunction but posed questions to Ramlogan on procedural aspects of his client’s case.
Ramlogan represents Jeremy Enriquez, Rudolph Norales and Jessica Tulcey in an election law case against the Attorney General of Belize and the country’s Elections and Boundaries Commission, made an interested party in the court proceedings. The decision was delivered on February 12 and has made front-page news.
Hondora, presiding over the case, ordered Ramlogan to provide detailed explanations addressing several questions about the handling of affidavits and exhibits submitted to the court.
The judge questioned the apparent use of digitally superimposed template signatures on affidavits and exhibits, noting that both Enriquez’s and Commissioner of the Supreme Court N Carla Sebastian’s signatures appeared to be electronically added rather than contemporaneously signed. This prompted the court to demand answers on who authorised this practice, why it was deemed necessary, and how it complied with legal standards.
The judge’s questions to Ramlogan include to say whether he operated an office and legal practice in Belize; state his arrangements with the firm Estevan Perera and Company LLP on the case, and why those arrangements were not disclosed to the court; identify the processes behind drafting, signing, authenticating, and filing all affidavits and exhibits, along with his role; state the origin, source, and reason for the use of digital template signatures; identity of the person who inserted them into the legal documents and indicate the steps taken to ensure full compliance with legal and procedural rules during the filing process.
Ramlogan was given two days to explain. Contacted on February 19, he declined comment only saying the matter was being appealed to the Court of Appeal.
Senior Counsel Eamon Courtenay, of Belize, told Belizean media, “The judge has made some orders against Mr Ramlogan, personally, in the judgment. I believe, in my many years of practice, I have never seen a practitioner behave so disrespectfully, disgracefully and so inconsistent with the traditions of the bar.
“It was a most regrettable and I cannot believe that a senior counsel believes that he can come from Trinidad and Tobago and behave that way in our courts.
“And so, I am going to see what happens as a result of the orders that the judge has made against him.”
Courtenay represented the Attorney General of Belize in the case.
In the ruling, the judge focused heavily on issues with affidavits and supporting documents filed by the claimants.
He noted that the digital template signatures of Enriquez, and commissioner of the High Court, N Carla Sebastian, appeared superimposed onto affidavits and other supporting documents.
The judge also noted that affidavits were not compli
