A landmark ruling from the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has upended a years-long, high-profile extradition battle involving prominent Belizean attorney Andrew Bennett, opening a new chapter in debates over digital privacy rights and constitutional protections in cross-border law enforcement.
Bennett has been fighting U.S. attempts to extradite him on money laundering charges, allegations he has repeatedly and vehemently denied. At the heart of the American government’s case against him is a cache of private WhatsApp messages, which prosecutors have framed as critical evidence to support the extradition request.
In its May 18, 2026 decision, the CCJ overturned prior rulings from Belize’s lower courts that had upheld the admissibility of the WhatsApp evidence. The top regional court found a critical flaw in the earlier decisions: both the High Court and Court of Appeal had grounded their rulings in the Interception of Communication Act – a piece of legislation that was not yet in force at the time law enforcement collected the private messages.
The CCJ declined to issue a final ruling on whether the collection of the messages violates Belize’s constitutional protections for privacy and protection against arbitrary search and seizure, noting that legal arguments on those core questions had not been fully tested in lower courts. Instead, the court remanded the entire case back to the Belize High Court for an entirely new hearing, setting the stage for what legal observers describe as a defining showdown over digital privacy rights in the region.
Speaking after the ruling, lead defense attorney Hector Guerra emphasized that the CCJ’s decision serves as a critical reminder that the protection of citizens’ fundamental rights must take precedence in extradition proceedings. Guerra explained that his legal team brought a broad argument centered on abuse of process before the CCJ, arguing that any extradition of a Belizean citizen must adhere strictly to existing domestic law, rather than bypassing constitutional safeguards.
“In this digital age, we all use platforms like WhatsApp and other messaging services to share private information, and every citizen has a legitimate expectation that their communications will remain protected,” Guerra said. “The CCJ’s ruling confirmed that lower courts made a material error in relying on a law that was not even active when the evidence was gathered.”
Guerra added that even without the Interception of Communication Act in place, Belize’s common law framework requires judicial oversight for any interception of private communications. Those constitutional and common law arguments will now be fully advanced in the new High Court hearing.
Guerra confirmed that Bennett’s legal team is currently drafting new arguments for the upcoming hearing, including an additional claim of entrapment. As of the latest update, no official date has been scheduled for the new proceedings.