Limitation of proceedings

(1) No action or proceeding seeking to void a foundation, seeking attachment or any other restraint of a part of a foundation endowment, other than an action brought by a foundation council, member, protector, founder, beneficiary or the Government of Belize, shall be entertained by the Court unless it is commenced within one year of the date of the founder’s execution of the foundation charter or within two years after the plaintiff’s underlying cause of action arises, whichever is earlier, irrespective of the date on which the founder made a disposition of property to the foundation. (2) No action or proceeding, other than an action brought by a member, protector, founder, beneficiary, Belize member or the Government of Belize, shall be entertained by the Court that is based on a cause of action which arose after the date of the founder’s execution of the foundation charter. (3) For purposes of this Act– (a) the date on which a cause of action shall have arisen is the date of the act or omission being relied on to establish the cause of action, and if the act or omission is continuous in nature, or if multiple acts or omissions are alleged, 76 then the date of the first act or omission shall be the date that the cause of action arises; (b) the term “cause of action” means the earliest cause of action capable of assertion by a plaintiff against a founder, beneficiary, or endowment, by which that plaintiff may establish a claim against that founder, or endowment, and (c) the entry of judgment in any proceeding in any jurisdiction or court shall not constitute a separate cause of action. (4) In the event of continuation of a foreign foundation to Belize, this section applies as if the foundation was at all times a foundation governed by the laws of Belize, without regard to the law of the foundation’s prior domicile.