Lawyer to file another
court case against ExCo
PHILIPSBURG--Lawyer Marius Römer is planning to file yet another lawsuit against the Executive Council of St. Maarten. This time he will ask the judge to give a verdict on the Executive Council’s non-compliance with a July 13 court decision ordering government to take a decision on issuing a casino licence to his client Kildare Properties for the casino at Caravanserai Beach Hotel.
Römer told The Daily Herald the July 18 letter his client had received stating that the licence would not be granted was actually a letter from the Lt. Governor and not the Executive Council. He said he was still waiting for a letter stating the official decision of the Executive Council on the matter.
“The standard proceeding I filed on August 21 is to put pressure on the Executive Council and for them to point out to the Lt. Governor the position he has put the commissioners in. The amount of US $12.7 million is for possible damages my client may suffer due to this whole matter.”
However, while the standard proceeding is ongoing, Römer said he would file a second lawsuit against the Executive Council for not complying with the court ruling of July 13.
In that ruling, Judge Joop Drop gave the Executive Council two months to arrive at a decision on Kildare Properties’ second request for a casino licence submitted on February 22.
“I believe the July 18 letter was written without taking the court’s verdict of July 13 into consideration. Meanwhile, two months have gone by and my client hasn’t received an answer,” Römer said. “On October 2, 2006, the commissioners acted in their capacity of Island Council members and agreed to a resolution instructing the Executive Council to grant the licence. But, afterwards, as Commissioners, they put the whole issuance of the licence on the back burner.”
The lawyer said the Island Council had agreed in that meeting that his client wasn’t just a fake company, but a legitimate business trying seriously to run a resort. He pointed out that his client had been waiting for more than 27 months for building permits to build the rooms required to obtain the casino licence.
“I understand that the Executive Council has a policy on issuance of casino licences, but it’s the Executive Council’s own fault that my client hasn’t received the building permits to build the 200 rooms required to obtain the casino licence.”
Römer said the Executive Council could also apply reasonableness to divert from its own policy and issue the licence, taking into account that the Executive Council was at fault in the matter.
