By Mabinty M. Kamara
The Iron Ore Mining Company, SL Mining has hailed a judgment by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) as a victory for the company in its legal battles with the government of Sierra Leone over the cancellation of its operational license in Marampa, northern Sierra Leone.
In a press statement released after the judgment on Monday 15th February 2021 SL Mining said Sierra Leone has agreed to pay the company’s costs and will not appeal the judgment. It says “In today’s judgment, Sir Michael Burton GBE (sitting as the judge of the High Court) conclusively dismissed Sierra Leone's challenge and upheld the partial award deciding that SL Mining “wins on each”.
In February 2020, The ICC Arbitral Tribunal ordered Sierra Leone to reinstate SL Mining’s license and lift any mineral export prohibition imposed on the company. But Sierra Leone challenged the ICC’s jurisdiction, arguing that SL Mining should have waited three months from the July 14, 2019 notice of dispute before commencing arbitration proceedings.
Monday’s judgment dismissed Sierra Leone’s challenge and upheld a partial final award issued by ICC arbitrators last year concluding they had jurisdiction with regards to SL Mining’s claims, according to the company.
The judge, Michael Burton, agreed with the arbitrators, saying the three-month period is set out for the two parties to have time to reach a settlement, but that the full period need not have elapsed before arbitration begins.
Sierra Leone’s Attorney General, Anthony Brewah told Politico that “the matter is not yet finished. We went to court saying that the court has no jurisdiction over the matter. I said it is not true. What the court did is to say that they have a jurisdiction on the matter just as we have been doing in any other court to say the court lacks jurisdiction so the court decides that they have a jurisdiction so they will now go into full trial. This is just a matter of jurisdiction and it's not true that they have made a final judgment.”
SL Mining is a subsidiary of U.S. commodity trader Gerald Group. They filed for arbitration in August 2019 and suspended their Marampa mine Project the following month, after the Sierra Leone Government cancelled the company's mining license in October 2019 over allegations that the company has not been in full compliance with the mining lease agreement.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online
