KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Jamaican enterprise mogul Michael Lee-Chin has been awarded greater than US$43 million in an funding dispute with the Dominican Republic.
Lee-Chin obtained a Last Award from a UNCITRAL Arbitral Tribunal within the case that concerned problems with first impression beneath the Caricom-DR Free Commerce Settlement (Treaty).
Lee-Chin had introduced the declare towards the Dominican Republic beneath the Treaty about his curiosity in Lajun Company SA. This Dominican firm held a long-term concession contract to handle a landfill in Santo Domingo.
The concession was managed by Lee-Chin’s son, Adrian Christopher Lee-Chin, who served as Lajun’s basic supervisor.
In 2017, the Dominican Republic took navy management of the landfill and introduced native actions to nullify and terminate the concession primarily based on an alleged environmental emergency.
Lee-Chin initiated funding arbitration towards the Dominican Republic as a result of he alleged the state’s a number of violations of the Treaty, which included varied arbitrary acts meant to pressure him to function the landfill with out receiving a good tipping payment.
After greater than 5 years of arbitral proceedings, a number of rounds of substantive briefs (jurisdictional and deserves), two doc manufacturing phases, a two-day jurisdictional listening to, a six-day ultimate listening to on the deserves, and vital post-hearing briefings, the Arbitral Tribunal issued its Last Award in favor of Lee-Chin.
Within the Last Award, the Tribunal discovered that the Dominican Republic violated its obligations beneath the Treaty concerning expropriation and truthful and equitable therapy and breached the Treaty’s umbrella clause. In reparation for these violations, the Arbitral Tribunal ordered the Dominican Republic to pay Lee-Chin over US$43.59 million, plus curiosity.
Agreeing with the arguments made by Lee-Chin, the Tribunal rejected all remaining jurisdictional objections filed by the Dominican Republic. It held that “the termination of the Concession Settlement was half of a bigger effort by the State to eject Claimant from the operation of the funding.”
The Tribunal additional discovered that “no sample of reasonableness or believable justifications could also be discerned in [the Dominican Republic’s] altering attitudes all through the funding.”
Consequently, the Arbitral Tribunal concluded that the Dominican Republic “should compensate Claimant for the damages it triggered because of violating its obligations beneath the phrases of the Treaty.”
After reviewing the Last Award, Lee-Chin mentioned he “was very happy with the end result and was lastly vindicated.”
He added that he “expects the Dominican Republic to right away fulfill the Last Award and proof to the investor group, together with all Jamaican traders, that the Dominican Republic as soon as discovered liable honors its worldwide obligations.”
Associated