$446M Dipcon Engineering judgement...CCJ hears arguments over out-of-time appeal

$446M Dipcon Engineering judgement…CCJ hears arguments over out-of-time appeal

Nov 01, 2017 News

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) is scheduled to rule in a matter in which the Court of Appeal refused to allow an out-of-time appeal against the $446M judgment that was granted in favour of Dipcon Engineering against the government, back in 2015, in the High Court. The CCJ is expected to send out notices for a ruling in the matter.
Dipcon took the government to court since 2009, during the reign of the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) government. This was while Charles Ramson Sr. was Attorney General.
However in 2015, the Court awarded US$665,032.17 (G$133M) together with US$1,563,368 (G$313M). The first sum was awarded for the “road building and construction works” undertaken by Dipcon. The other sum was for the “increased cost incurred by Dipcon at the request of government.”
Further, the government has to pay interest on both sums. It also has to pay six percent interest per annum from 2009, when the judgment was filed, to October 2015, and interest of four percent until the sum is fully paid.
In addition, government has been ordered to pay G$1.2M “cost” to Dipcon. But the current Attorney General, Basil Williams, said that he was not aware of the Court case until after government lost it.
Williams had told Kaieteur News that he did not know about the matter until after judgment was handed down. He said that the matter was not dealt with by his Chambers.
The Attorney General explained that his predecessor, Anil Nandlall, had a habit of giving government cases out to private firms. Williams said that this was one of the cases.
Before demitting office, former acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Carl Singh, had refused to allow the out-of-time appeal against the Justice Rishi Persaud judgement. In the ruling, the government was required to pay interest on the sum, in addition to 6 percent interest per annum from 2009 when the judgment was filed.
The Attorney General (AG)’s Chambers had missed the stipulated time to appeal the case, but later filed an out-of-time appeal, which the judge did not allow.
The AG therefore moved to CCJ with the matter, noting that he was unaware that the previous Attorney General had laid over a court order for payment of $400M with the Minister of Finance in January 2016.
Solicitor-General, Kim Kyte, Principal Legal Advisor Judy Stuart-Adonis and Senior Legal Advisor Leslyn Noble, appeared on behalf of the Attorney General and the State, and Timothy Jonas for Dipcon Engineering, before the full panel of CCJ, headed by Justice Dennis Byron, via video conference on Monday.
In their argument, the State submitted the case proffered to the Court of Appeal. The attorneys noted that there was good and substantial reason for the delay and the case has merit. In the circumstances, the attorneys held that the CCJ should grant the appeal.
Dipcon‘s lawyer on the other hand, essentially argued that no reasonable explanation was given to court to allow the “out-of-time,” appeal. However, in the affidavit to support his claim before the CCJ, the AG noted that he was briefed regarding the judgment.
The AG had noted the name of the Attorney-at-Law or the parties to the litigation that resulted in the Court Order.
The Attorney General said that he later discovered that the matter was being handled by a private counsel, Roysdale Forde. Forde was given the case by former Attorney General Anil Nandlall.
According to the application, Forde only provided Williams with a copy of the proceedings in March 2016, months after the judgment was handed down. It was only then that it was discovered that no appeal had been filed on behalf of the Attorney General.
In May 2016, Williams moved to the Court of Appeal to seek an extension of time to file a Notice of Appeal against the ruling of the High Court
Dipcon had taken the former PPP/C government to court in February 2009 to recover sums it said it was owed, along with all other costs for road construction and infrastructural works done in the Mahaica/Rosignol area.

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