In a landmark ruling that reshapes the path of a high-profile cross-border extradition matter, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Belize’s highest judicial body, has vacated all prior lower court decisions in the Andrew Bennett case and ordered a complete new review by the nation’s High Court. The decision, delivered on May 15, 2026, centers on a critical legal error that undermined earlier proceedings: lower courts relied on a modern surveillance law that had not yet entered into force when the evidence at the heart of the case was collected.
At the core of the legal dispute is a cache of WhatsApp messages that United States authorities have sought to admit as evidence against Bennett, who has fought extradition for an extended period. Bennett has consistently maintained that the private digital communications were obtained in violation of his constitutional rights to privacy and due process. While lower courts acknowledged that the messages were collected through improper channels, they nevertheless allowed the extradition process to move forward, arguing that the remaining body of evidence against Bennett was sufficient to justify his transfer to U.S. authorities.
Justice Denys Barrow, speaking for the CCJ bench, explained that the lower courts’ entire legal reasoning collapsed once the timeline of the relevant legislation came to light during written submissions. The lower courts based their ruling on Belize’s Interception of Communications Act, a law that only came into force in November 2023 — years after the WhatsApp messages at the center of the case were intercepted.
“This reliance on a non-existent statute at the time of the original proceedings constitutes an error in law, or per incuriam, as this type of legal mistake is historically termed,” Justice Barrow explained in the court’s formal ruling. Bennett’s legal team had urged the CCJ to go a step further after uncovering the error, asking the top court to directly rule that the use of the WhatsApp messages violated constitutional protections under broader, long-standing legal principles. However, the CCJ declined to issue a final ruling on that question, noting that the constitutional challenge has never been fully argued by both sides in a proper proceeding.
The CCJ determined that the only fair path forward is to send the entire case back to the Belize High Court for an entirely fresh review. This procedural reset will give both the prosecution and the defense full opportunity to present arguments on the key unresolved question: whether the admission of the seized WhatsApp messages violates Bennett’s constitutional rights, regardless of the terms of the 2023 Interception of Communications Act. No order for costs was issued in connection with the CCJ appeal, leaving each side responsible for its own legal expenses from the appellate process.