Justice of Appeal Rishi Persaud has said that he does not have jurisdiction to order ExxonMobil to provide proof that it has indeed lodged a US$2 billion guarantee which is intended to indemnify Guyana against an oil spill and associated perils.
Stabroek News understands that in a brief ruling handed down yesterday morning, Justice Persaud dismissed the summons which sought proof that ExxonMobil had lodged the money as it claimed. Justice Persaud ruled that he has no jurisdiction to make the order sought.
According to a source, the Judge expressed concern that the Applicants had to move to the court to request proof that the sum has indeed been lodged, while adding that in the interest of transparency, it is hoped that the specific issue can be resolved.
The Judge has ordered the parties to bear their own costs.
The application for proof that ExxonMobil has indeed lodged the money has been met with resistance by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the oil company, which both argued that the court lacked jurisdiction to make such an order.
When the case came up for arguments earlier this month, attorney for the EPA, Sanjeev Datadin, reiterated the position of his clients that it is beyond the jurisdiction of the court to order the EPA and Exxon’s affiliate—Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited—to produce a copy of the US$2 billion guarantee.
Datadin’s contention was that a single judge hearing a matter in the appellate court as Justice Persaud was, does not have the jurisdiction to make the order being sought by the Applicants; stating that this principle is backed by case law precedent.
Like Datadin, Senior Counsel Edward Luckhoo for Exxon/Esso argued that the inherent jurisdiction of the court to make the order such as being sought in this case, does not reside in a single judge hearing the matter in chamber.
That inherent residual jurisdiction the lawyers argued is reserved to be exercised by the Full Bench of the Court of Appeal.
Senior Counsel Seenath Jairam who represents the Applicants, however, was forceful in his arguments that a single judge is clothed with jurisdiction to make the order his clients have asked for.
The action concerns the landmark case over an unlimited guarantee from the parent company of ExxonMobil which was filed by applicants Frederick Collins and Godfrey Whyte who had secured an historic win back in May of last year, when High Court Judge Sandil Kissoon ruled that ExxonMobil was in breach of its insurance obligation.
That judgment has since been appealed by the EPA and is pending before the Guyana Court of Appeal.
