Earlier this month, our claim spearheaded by Barbudan fisherman George Jeffery, accusing authorities of bypassing planning laws and failing to protect the fragile ecosystem near a renowned Frigatebird sanctuary, was in court for the first time. Frigatebirds are a critically endangered species and are the national bird of Antigua and Barbuda.  

The government has refused to release all relevant information to the claim. This is a violation of the Escazú Agreement, a regional treaty promoting transparency in environmental matters. 

Withholding information means that we cannot properly challenge decisions that may have significant environmental impacts. We will be back in court in March 2025 and in the meantime, we will be making a request for specific documentation related to the case.  

Having all relevant information is essential to ensure that we’re able to pursue every angle in our case to ensure the frigatebird population is protected. 

In February Barbudan land defenders John Mussington and Jackie Frank secured a landmark victory before the Privy Council sitting in London. The Privy Council ruled that John and Jackie did have standing to challenge the razing of pristine forest for a private jet airport. We have continued to support John and Jackie in their fight, and we were also in court for this challenge, requesting permission from the court to add expert witnesses to the case. These witnesses will speak to the inadequacy of the Environmental Impact Assessments for the airport.  

Planes have begun to use the airport runway, but our fight continues. 

Watch this space as these claims will be continuing to progress through the courts in 2025. We are honoured to be able to support heroic Barbudans, but we can’t do it without your help.  

As part of our July trip to Barbuda, GLAN had the opportunity to meet with members of the Barbuda Council. We discussed how together we can work on devising a holistic legal strategy on how the law can be leveraged to address the challenges faced by the community.  

During our time on the island we dedicated time to investigating broader issues affecting the community. This involved gathering evidence related to other cases, documenting incidents, investigating lease boundaries and collecting data that could be crucial for future legal actions.  

Our efforts were focused mainly on mapping leases in building a comprehensive record of the situation on the ground, which will contribute to broader advocacy efforts and legal strategies aimed at protecting the rights of Barbudans.  

At GLAN we’re committed to long-term solidarity with the people of Barbuda working to save their island and their way of life. We’re so grateful that you share this vision too. 

Imminent land adjudication  

In July 2024 GLAN travelled to Barbuda to meet with the heroic grassroots activist colleagues. Our most pressing task was to investigate the situation on the ground since the central government’s announcement that the land is to be ‘adjudicated’.  

We were able to interview a wide range of Barbudans on the adjudication process to gage their thoughts and views. The results were extremely clear: across the board, Barbudans reject the adjudication. Islanders described the process as threatening. We’ve sent these findings to the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).  

The strategy to challenge the adjudication is two-fold: engage with the IACHR and prepare to take legal action. Watch this space.  

Environmental apartheid  

Since GLAN’s first trip to Barbuda in 2023, rapid privatisation has accelerated. The fencing-off of land by developers, coupled with the lack of infrastructure in the village, paints a picture of environmental apartheid.  

The juxtaposition is stark between the exclusive ostentatious private communities being constructed on top of wetlands and on top of turtle nesting beaches, and the villagers left behind with severe dust pollution, roads destroyed by heavy machinery and a huge increase in garbage being dumped beside the village by the developers.  

The actions of the developers and central government are not just about land acquisition; they represent a fundamental disregard for the environment and the rights of the local population to live sustainably and in harmony with their fragile island.  

Meeting brave land and ocean defenders  

An important part of GLAN’s trip involved meeting with the tenacious Barbudans who are currently engaged in legal battles related to land and environmental rights. Meeting these heroes was invaluable, offering us a deeper understanding of their cases which we are supporting.  

We listened to their stories, gathered more information and evidence for the cases, and discussed strategies going forward.  

Meeting Miranda Beazer who showed us her land that was bulldozed and going to the bird sanctuary that has been put under threat by development with legendary George Jeffery reinforced our commitment to standing alongside these courageous individuals in their fight for justice.  

Airport case  

We also visited the site of the controversial proposed new airport on Barbuda, which is clearly not for the people of Barbuda.  

Locals voiced their concerns about the airport. They described concerns about the airport’s structure and impact on the ecology of the island, such as the runway's construction over caves that previously absorbed excess water during severe weather events, now sealed with concrete, potentially increasing flood risks. 

They also described practical issues like the location of this airport being inaccessible to villagers. This concern is particularly acute in the context of medical emergencies.  

The legal action against this new airport, that GLAN is supporting, presses ahead. The next court date is set for 4th November 2024. We’ll keep you updated.  

Being on the island of Barbuda has affirmed our commitment to work with grassroots heroes to save the island’s fragile ecology, and the islanders’ inspiring communal way of life. The goals of our trip were multifaceted, and we managed to understand first-hand the impact of recent developments on the ground, listen to and learn how we can best support local land defenders, and gather critical evidence for ongoing legal battles.   

We were shocked by the speed at which the developments are privatising the coast. The trip offered us a glimpse into the complexities of the accelerating land rights struggle on the island and we are grateful to Barbuda for welcoming us so warmly. As we move forward, we remain dedicated to working alongside the community in a bottom-up, community-led manner, leveraging local wisdom and advocating for the most pressing concerns of the people.   

We hope that these stories from our time there resonate with you, and that you’ll consider supporting the future of this work. We can’t do it without you.  

In July, GLAN embarked on a solidarity visit to the Caribbean. Our first stop was Jamaica where we reunited with our grassroots Barbudan land defender colleagues for the Stronger Caribbean Together Network workshop.  

We learned from indigenous and black communities across the Caribbean who are on the frontline of the climate crisis. Fisherfolk, farmers, activists, academics and community leaders shared how they are tackling disaster capitalism. 

While we were in Kingston, Hurricane Beryl barrelled across the Caribbean causing widespread devastation. Beryl was the strongest ever hurricane to develop in June in Atlantic history and the earliest category five Atlantic hurricane on record, fuelled by exceptional and unprecedented ocean temperatures.  

Beryl served as a bleak reminder of the ever-intensifying climate emergency and importance of the work of the activists in the Network. Our Barbudan colleagues engaged in knowledge sharing with other members of the Network, giving guidance of what to watch in the aftermath of devastation.  

We are more committed than ever to support the work of these heroic islanders, and this time spent in Jamaica was just so inspiring.  

We can’t continue to work with the people of the Caribbean without your support.  

Last week, we updated you about a UN conference that excluded local Barbudans in favour of billionaire developers. 

Barbudans protested outside of the conference, making sure that their voices were heard. Their message was clear: Barbuda's delicate ecology and the traditions that have protected it must be saved. 

Barbudans were supported in their protest by GLAN partners from Belize and Grenada where GLAN supports other environmental cases taken by grassroots groups. GLAN supported local Belize activist YaYa Marin Coleman to travel in solidarity to learn about the Barbudans’ struggle and impart her wisdom of environmental activism and successfully taking on an international developer. 

The Barbudan's protest and their wider work to save the island are made possible by support from you. Will you share this crowdfund and stand in solidarity with Barbudans as they fight to save their home from billionaire developers? 

This week the UN is holding its 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States in Antigua and Barbuda. It claims to be a conference focused on supporting islands in their quest for a more resilient and sustainable future.   

The issue? They’ve completely excluded Barbudans from having a seat at the table. They’ve also allowed the harmful developers who are contributing to environmental harms in the islands and threatening indigenous land rights to attend, even permitting them to have their own event.  

This is unacceptable. Local Barbudans are facing the devastation of their island’s fragile ecology, and the end to their traditional custom of communal land tenure, all in the name of profit for foreign land developers, and now they are being shut out of an essential conversation on these very issues.  

GLAN has been supporting local heroes on the island in their efforts to hold the government and developers to account. They are set to ensure their voices are heard, despite everything.  

We will update you on the outcome of the conference, and on how the local heroes ensure that their efforts are recognised.  

We're writing with an update on our work in partnership with the people of Barbuda who enjoy special protections under international law. A new announcement from their central government has intensified the threat of forced removal, the dismantling of their right to communal land ownership and the loss of their traditional way of life. We are submitting an urgent request to the Inter American Commission of Human Rights seeking precautionary measures as part of a community led legal strategy, and supporting the local resistance to raise global awareness of the governments’ shocking move.

Last week the community had sight of a letter from the government to the Chairman of the Barbuda Council informing them of a planned adjudication of their entire island’s land. This adjudication is set to begin in just 3 weeks' time.

Land adjudication is a process that will determine all land rights and boundaries of existing land ownership on the island. By default, much of the communally owned land is at risk of becoming property of the central government, and being sold off to foreign land developers. The plan for the adjudication has happened without the consent or consultation with the local community. Barbudan culture is rooted in informal communal land ownership, and this move violates the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).

The islanders stand to lose everything. 

This shocking development threatens to erode the Barbudan’s harmonious coexistence with nature and their ability to be custodians of the environment. The planned adjudication of land will displace Barbudan claims to their own island. They stand to lose their traditional way of life and access to vast areas of their home island.

After maximising the exploitation of the now private island of Jumby Bay, the central government administration in Antigua have now set its sights on Barbuda. At a government meeting in July 2023 Prime Minister Gaston Browne announced his intention to make the island of Barbuda a “Jumby Bay on steroids”. Browne added, “The earnings for those hotels that we’ll be attracting will be significantly greater than all the other hotels in Antigua and perhaps only second to Jumby Bay”.

The government’s approach has still not been formally communicated to the Barbudan people and is a serious violation of their rights. The government is failing completely to respect the principles of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, democracy, justice, equality, the protection of cultural heritage and the rule of law.

We are supporting Barbudans’ fight to maintain their way of life and safeguard their island from the damaging effects of development. We can’t do this work without the generosity of your support. 

Together with Barbudan land defenders we just secured a landmark win at London-based Privy Council  

This morning the Privy Council delivered a landmark win for communities across the Caribbean fighting against the exploitation and destruction of their island-homes. We’re celebrating this ruling in favour of heroic local land defenders John Mussington and Jacklyn Frank.  

The Privy Council were only called on to answer a specific legal point on standing, however the hearing and the judgment raised alarm bells at the clear lack of transparency and proper enforcement of planning law by the government and their failure to adhere to the rule of law. These are their key findings: 

1. John and Jackie have more than sufficient interest given that their village sits less than two kilometres from the runway therefore impacting their environment coupled with noise disturbances and possible contamination of their drinking water. 

2. You do not need to be an expert in environmental matters to take such cases, as long as you are a concerned local or have some knowledge you are empowered to take a case. 

3. This approach was deemed by the Court to be consistent with the Escazú agreement (Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean) to which Antigua and Barbuda are a State Party. This is the first time this international agreement has been cited in any Caribbean case   

4. The government’s failure to follow its own planning laws raises serious rule of law issues. To this day the EIAs have not been disclosed to or seen by John, Jackie or their legal team.  

Today’s win sets a precedent for other communities facing similar challenges. By removing the barriers to accessing local legal remedies the judgment serves to legally empower communities who wish to challenge harmful developments that are destroying their lands and livelihoods. 

With the standing issue now resolved, John and Jackie are set to return to the local courts with GLAN’s support to halt the airport going ahead, restore the land and challenge other luxury developments. 

This is a significant and encouraging win for Caribbean communities fighting to protect their land and hold powerful actors accountable. We really couldn’t do this kind of work and support these heroic communities without you.  

Today at 6pm GMT we’ll be hosting a briefing with the local land defenders and lawyers who argued our case. We’d love for you to be there too.  

Access the briefing here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bGkd-fqVR0S6aTinRiO-AA

Today GLAN, alongside fearless local Barbudan fisherman and tour guide George Jeffery, initiated legal proceedings against the Antiguan-based Development and Control Authority (DCA) who approved a controversial development of a private luxury residence at Cedar Tree Point, part of the Codrington Lagoon National Park which is a Ramsar Convention protected wetland and home to Barbuda’s pride and joy – the magnificent frigate bird sanctuary.

GLAN’s lawsuit seeks to stop the harmful development in its tracks.  

The development is proposed to be on an untouched beach, locally preserved as a conservation site and nesting habitat for endangered sea turtles. This development, which is ongoing, threatens the turtles, the frigate bird sanctuary, the lagoon, and the very existence of the Barbudan people. The effects of the building are leaving the community even more vulnerable to extreme weather events.  

Fisherman and local tour guide to the Frigate Bird Sanctuary George Jeffery, our co-claimant, lives a peaceful quiet life in harmony with the birds on which he relies for his income. While his entire livelihood is at risk, what worries him most is the “significant risks to the delicate ecosystem, a critical habitat for our beautiful Frigate birds”.  

Barbudans have protected this area from human harms and used it in a sustainable way for hunting, fishing, and leisure in harmony with the ecosystem. Now, the luxury villa includes a 97.7 acre “security buffer” to lock out Barbudans from the land that they have treated with care and respect.  

This case seeks to stop this illegal land grab, save the fragile ecosystem that it threatens, and enable local people to preserve their way of life and land for future generations.

After much determination and hard work, Barbudan land defenders, Jacklyn Frank and John Mussington, finally faced representatives of the government of Antigua and Barbuda in court over their right to challenge environmentally destructive developments.

The board of judges at the Privy Council hearing raised many concerns over government activities surrounding the building of the runway on Barbuda, noting that no proper planning process was followed as required by law; Barbudans were not informed of the details of the project or allowed to engage in the process.

Stronger together: Barbudans united to plan next steps in the fight to protect their island-home

The hearing was a turning point for Barbudans who are uniting against destructive developments on the island and are energised to plan next steps in their struggle against developers and government, and to ensure they have a voice in the future of their island.

Airport works accelerate before Privy Council ruling received

As we left court we heard that work on the airport project, that is being built solely to serve ultra-wealthy tourists and the ecologically damaging 'luxury' villa developments across the island, was accelerating. Barbudans on island reported that Prime Minister Gaston Browne flew in from Antigua to meet with developers and visit the airstrip despite the ongoing legal challenge. As the court noted, Barbudans should be given the opportunity to engage with the project before work continues unlawfully.

The government of Antigua and Barbuda and developers are intent on pushing ahead with the exploitation of Barbuda before they can be held accountable - your continued support for the community fighting back is crucial.  

Thank you!

There has been incredible support for Barbudan land defenders, with messages of solidarity from around the world from activists, individual supporters and organisations.

We would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to all those who have donated to the crowdfund and shared messages and updates about the case online. This support is vital for small communities to successfully hold powerful actors to account.

John and Jackie were supported by GLAN at the hearing and represented pro bono by barristers from Garden Court Chambers, 3 Hare Court and by Theo Solley of Sheridans. A recording of the hearing is available on the court's website.

Two brave Barbudans, Jacklyn Frank and John Mussington, are travelling to the London based Privy Council (the Supreme Court for the Eastern Caribbean) on 8th November, taking a stand against the government of Antigua and Barbuda, who have denied them the right to challenge environmentally destructive developments on Barbuda, effectively allowing billionaire developers to act with impunity.

Barbudans have persevered with their opposition to the destructive airport and other developments despite harassment and threats of legal action for trespass and sedition.

"The decision to fight against the development of the private-jet airport on Barbuda was not taken lightly. But it had to be done… We, as Barbudans, were not consulted about this development. Our environment, our culture, our history, and our right to be consulted and participate in the future of our Lands have been totally ignored.” 
- Jackie Frank, Barbudan Land Defender

GLAN is supporting them to bring their case and ensure their right to legally challenge developments that harm or destroy their island, and they are represented on a pro bono basis by barristers from Garden Court Chambers. Read more about the case here.

Take action by supporting and sharing the crowdfund; follow us on social media and use #SaveBarbuda to join the conversation and share messages of support for John and Jackie as they prepare for court. The hearing will be live streamed on the court's website, available to watch here on the day and will run from 10 am to 4 pm (UK).

Thank you for your continued support - it really does make a difference!

Shockingly GLAN recently uncovered documents suggesting UK developer Henry Anderson used the British Royal Family name to help push through his environmentally destructive development on Barbuda, misleading the local community and local council; as reported in the Independent.

Despite Buckingham Palace denying knowledge of Anderson he continues to state there is an open invitation to 'certain members of the Royal Family' to use his private luxury complex in future - regardless of the initial claims the lease was for the Royal Family themselves, and the construction causing serious harm to fragile ecosystems, wildlife habitats and the local community. 

We must ensure that colonial-style developers are held to account as they continue to treat Barbudans and the island with complete disregard. Barbudans deserve full transparency with all development leases and have the right to participate in the future of their country.

GLAN now plans to audit all development leases on Barbuda due to the glaring misconduct already uncovered, including those linked to billionaire John Paul DeJoria and Casamigos Tequila cofounder Michael Meldman, and other wealthy foreign investors. With your support we are continuing to build our case and support Barbudans in their fight for justice.

In May GLAN lawyers visited Barbuda to increase support for land defenders. Our team experienced first-hand the intimidation tactics used by private developers. While walking on public beaches to inspect the developments, security filmed and followed our team, and called the police.

While in Barbuda, we uncovered that U.S. developers have allegedly used connections to celebrities and high-profile individuals to push ahead with an ecologically destructive development, without adequately informing and consulting the Barbudan people. 

Across the Caribbean there is a concerning trend of public land and access to beaches being sold off by governments to foreign investors at the expense of local communities, often bypassing citizen rights to be consulted in the process. During the visit we participated in a community meeting in Codrington to listen to the concerns of Barbudans and hear their vision for the future of their community. What we heard was astonishing; the community told us that not only is the environment being damaged but everyday life of Barbudans has drastically changed.

The community told our team that freedom of movement over community owned lands is restricted by foreign developers who intimidate and threaten people with police involvement to keep them off public beaches. Locals who speak up about their rights or previous land titles are harassed, pressured to sell their land and finally threatened with litigation. They report a need for increased local legal support to counter the increasing speed of construction and exclusion from their lands. We can't let this stand.

‘We have to fight for the land for our future generation… if we don’t who’s going to do it? So, we’ve got to fight…so that our children, our grandchildren, our great grandchildren have something.’ – Barbudan citizen at the May community meeting

Ecocide – no turning back

The developers are wreaking havoc on the fragile ecosystem of the island, tantamount to ecocide; it is imperative these developments are stopped immediately before it's too late for the Barbudan environment and way of life for the people who call it home. Sadly, informed by recent experience, there is a very real fear in the community that as developers destroy natural shoreline defences and exacerbate coastal erosion, another hurricane will see higher loss of life and island-wide devastation.

What’s next?

In November GLAN will be supporting two Barbudans as they bring a legal challenge to the London-based Privy Council and continue fighting against the construction of a new airport built on top of previously untouched forest – an integral part of the developers’ plan to further exploit the island. The Privy Council will decide whether Barbudans affected by projects such as the airport have the right to legally challenge the government in court. A previous Court of Appeal decision ruled they had no legal standing to challenge such developments.      

The case is integral to the fight against ongoing destruction of Barbuda by foreign developers and will have repercussions across the Caribbean.

We are currently building our case together with locals, but global action and solidarity are also needed to pressure the developers and hold central government to account to human rights obligations and commitments.

Thanks to your support we are stepping up support for Land Defenders at this critical time!

Photo: Barbudan land defenders at Codrington Lagoon National Park standing in clearance made for luxury villas

Barbudan land defenders are once again facing legal harassment while fighting to protect their homeland, this time threatened with charges of sedition, despite winning a legal victory just last year when false claims of trespass were dismissed by the court. 

Luxury developments on the island are continuing at speed with land clearances and construction underway on Codrington Lagoon National Park and other locations right now. We are at a key turning point in the fight to preserve the Barbudan way of life and fragile ecosystems, so GLAN has decided to deepen our support for islanders at this critical juncture. 

We will be visiting this month to meet with islanders and hear their concerns as well as their community vision for their own futures and that of the island. 

Photos, top to bottom: Luxury villas in development on cleared land Codrington Lagoon National Park, Ariel view of the land clearance

By contributing to our crowdfund you can help bring Barbudan voices into the spotlight and help them put an end to the mass land grab and environmental destruction taking place. 

A joint campaign by GLAN and Front Line Defenders to end prosecution of land defenders on the island of Barbuda has been successful.  

For the past two years, 22 Barbudan land defenders have been repeatedly summoned to court on charges of trespass.  

The land defenders are concerned about development projects which are being built on communally owned land. Developers from large, international corporations have been clearing wetlands, nature reserves, and habitats of endangered animals, such as turtles, to make way for multiple luxury tourist resorts.  

The land defenders were monitoring the progress of development sites when they were arrested and charged with trespassing. At their hearing in June 2022, the presiding judge threatened defendants that they could face jail time.  

GLAN has been supporting the Barbudans in their legal challenge to stop construction of luxury resorts on Barbudan communal land. Together with Front Line Defenders, we launched an urgent appeal calling out the prosecution for lack of evidence and called for an end to the prolonged prosecution and legal harassment.  

In a victory for Barbudan residents, on the day of the hearing, the charges were dismissed for want of a “virtual complainant’. This is a significant victory in an ongoing battle to preserve the rights of Barbudan people.  

But Barbudans still need your help. Development companies, like PLH, continue to build luxury tourist resorts across Barbuda. A donation today will help us: 1) Support local legal actions conducted by a Barbudan attorney; 2) finance research work by Barbudan activists to collect key visual and oral evidence needed to oppose the false ‘sustainability’ narrative of developers and billionaires; and 3) strengthen GLAN’s efforts to build a comprehensive evidence database, a resource that will be shared with other legal teams fighting against disaster capitalism across the region. 

Will you help us Save Barbuda? 

Some unfortunate news. 

Barbuda’s island residents have been excluded from their lands and forced to watch through Instagram posts as their treasured wetland and national park are being transformed into luxury private resorts and a golf course for the ultra wealthy.

Today - on International Wetlands Day - Barbudan activists and their partners have launched SaveBarbuda.org, in an attempt to raise their voices.

The site details how Barbuda’s lands are being grabbed up by celebrity billionaires and foreign companies, and privatized to create the highly contested luxury resorts and villas. These developments are jeopardizing endangered species, water supply and the ability of the low-lying island to withstand climate change — all while upending the island’s unique communal tenure system, developed following the abolition of slavery.

GLAN has partnered with the SaveBarbuda movement to launch this new advocacy website and to drive this movement forward.

We need your help more than ever. Together, we can work to stop these companies from destroying Barbuda’s protected wetlands, defend the critically endangered species they’ve put at risk, and stand in solidarity with the Barbudans whose sovereignty and human rights are being violated each day.

With your donations, GLAN and the SaveBarbuda movement will: 1) Support local legal actions conducted by a Barbudan attorney; 2) finance research work by Barbudan activists to collect key visual and oral evidence needed to oppose the false ‘sustainability’ narrative of developers and billionaires; and 3) strengthen GLAN’s efforts to build a comprehensive evidence database, a resource that will be shared with other legal teams.

It's a race against time as construction continues. Your support can fuel Barbuda's victory.

GLAN has submitted a complaint to the Ramsar Secretariat calling for an urgent intervention to arrange an independent inspection mission. The complaint concerns the destruction of a listed wetland on the island of Barbuda after the government of allowed the development of a luxury resort and golf course by the US partnership ‘Peace Love Happiness’ (PLH) and Discovery Land Company, a US-based real estate developer and operator.

Since 2018, PLH Barbuda and Discovery Land Company have been building "Barbuda Ocean Club" on a site that falls within Codrington Lagoon National Park (“CLNP”). PLH Barbuda and Discovery Land Company have operated on the island through a lease that the Barbuda Council considers in breach of the Barbuda Land Act, 2007. This legislation codified the island’s unique collective tenure system established after the abolition of slavery. For two years, deforestation and sand mobilization for the PLH development have severely affected the ecology of CLNP, a designated Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. The Ramsar Secretariat is a Geneva based body overseeing the implementation of the intergovernmental Convention on Wetlands of International Importance.

According to the land concession granted to PLH (Barbuda) the nearby controversial airport, constructed on confiscated land in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Irma, was positioned to service PLH’s resort. Litigation efforts to halt the construction of the airport are paused due to COVID.

Great news! 

As you may recall, the High Court of Antigua and Barbuda struck out the claim by Barbudans seeking to defend their land from being seized and used for an ecologically destructive international airport. However, the Barbudans recently won their case in the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal against the Antigua and Barbuda Airport Authority, which overturned the decision of the High Court. The courts will now examine the governments’ failure to comply with its own laws and regulations in selecting the land and clearing forest to make way for the development.  

Thank you to all those who have supported the case so far. This is just one small victory in a long legal battle which we expect to be appealed all the way to the highest courts. 

The money raised so far has been transferred to the Barbudans’ legal team to pay for the costs of past hearings. Each new hearing brings unavoidable expenses and so we need to raise more funds to cover future costs.

We are keeping the crowdfunding page live, so please share this page with others to spread the word and ensure that the Barbudans can continue their fight! 

Here is a suggested social media post which you could share with your contacts: 

“Court of Appeal reinstates Barbudans’ legal claim challenging the confiscation of their land & clearing of island's forests following hurricane, all for the construction of airport & tourism development. Please donate & help continue their legal battle bit.ly/2C7YPIA”

Details on the most recent decision

The High Court, in hearing the judicial review proceedings challenging the decision to build the airport, had found that affidavits filed for the initial hearing were “spent”. This was because they had already been used before in the proceedings and could no longer be relied on without permission of the court. As permission had not been granted, the judge struck out the claim.

The Barbudans’ legal team argued that the judge can choose to correct such procedural errors in the interests of justice, rather than taking the draconian step of striking out the claim. The Court of Appeal agreed, accepting all of the legal team’s arguments and rejecting all of Antigua and Barbuda Airport Authority’s submissions.

The court reinstated the Barbudans’ claim and allowed them to rely on the documents filed earlier in the proceedings. It has also set aside the order which forced the Barbudan claimants to pay the Airport Authority’s costs. 

We have some great news for you! The Court of Appeal has granted the Barbudans leave to appeal the decision of the High Court to strike out their claim against the Airport Authority. This means they will have the chance to argue against the strike out and for a substantive case to be heard. The process of preparing for the appeal has begun and we will let you know when a date is set for the hearing.

Back in April, the High Court heard the claimants’ arguments against the Development Control Authority and the Attorney General on whether the interim injunction should be reinstated, which would prevent the public authorities from constructing the airport. They argued that the works on the airport breached Antigua and Barbudan planning law and that continued development of the airport would seriously harm Barbuda’s environment and wildlife. We are still waiting for the judgment on this point but will update you as soon as we are informed of a decision.

Thank you to everyone who has donated so far, which has enabled the tireless Barbudans and their legal team to take the case forward. We will let you know of any further updates in the case.

We fight on.