JAMAICA-ECONOMY - Millions awarded to Jamaican business titan in dispute with Dominican Republic.

Jamaican business mogul, Michael Lee-Chin has been awarded more than US$43 million in an investment dispute with the Dominican Republic.

Michael Lee Chin

Lee-Chin obtained a Final Award from a UNCITRAL Arbitral Tribunal in the case that involved issues of first impression under the Caricom-DR Free Trade Agreement (Treaty).

Lee-Chin had brought the claim against the Dominican Republic under the Treaty in relation to his interest in Lajun Corporation SA, a Dominican company, which held a long-term concession contract to manage a landfill in Santo Domingo.

The concession was managed by Lee-Chin's son, Adrian Christopher Lee-Chin, who served as Lajun's general manager.

In 2017, the Dominican Republic took military control of the landfill and also brought local actions to nullify and terminate the concession based on an alleged environmental emergency.

Lee-Chin initiated investment arbitration against the Dominican Republic as a result of what he alleged was the state's multiple violations of the Treaty, which included various arbitrary acts intended to force him to operate the landfill without receiving a fair tipping fee.

After more than five years of arbitral proceedings, multiple rounds of substantive briefs (jurisdictional and merits), two document production phases, a two-day jurisdictional hearing, a six-day final hearing on the merits, and significant post-hearing briefings, the Arbitral Tribunal issued its Final Award in favour of Lee-Chin.

In the Final Award, the Tribunal found that the Dominican Republic violated its obligations under the Treaty regarding expropriation and fair and equitable treatment, as well as breached the...