The Canadian company Gabriel Resources announced, on Monday, that it filed an appeal against the decision of the Washington Arbitration Court (ICSID) by which Romania won the case in the Roșia Montană case, requesting its annulment.
Gabriel Resources is seeking the annulment of the ICSID decision handed down on March 8, 2024 in the arbitration proceedings against Romania, which rejected the Canadian company’s claims against the Romanian state, “against the strong disagreement of one of the three arbitrators”. ICSID also awarded Romania approximately USD 10 million in costs.
In its request to annul the ICSID decision, Gabriel Resources claims “fatal flaws in the constitution of the ICSID tribunal, given that two of the arbitrators who delivered the majority decision, Prof. Pierre Tercier and Prof. Zachary Douglas, lacked the qualities of independence and impartiality which the ICSID Convention imposes and they did not adequately disclose the relationships between them and the parties involved in the case, including with Romania’s lawyer”.
The motion to set aside explains that, in addition, the majority’s decision on liability is substantially flawed for several reasons, including manifest excesses of power by disregarding applicable law, multiple serious departures from fundamental rules of procedure, and a lack of reasoning for the decisions made on several of the most fundamental aspects of the claims presented, the company claims.
An annulment action is examined and resolved by an “ad hoc committee” consisting of three members appointed by the President of the ICSID Board of Directors. Gabriel Resources requested that the Chairman of the Board of Directors obtain a recommendation from the Secretary General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration regarding the selection of members of the ad hoc committee, given concerns about actual and potential conflicts of interest within ICSID.
In the application for annulment, Gabriel Resources also requested the suspension of the execution of the decision regarding the court costs of 10 million USD awarded to Romania.
On March 8, ICSID announced that it had ruled in favor of Romania in the case against Gabriel Resources in the Roșia Montană file, in which the company allegedly exploited the gold resources in this area.
Gabriel Resources was demanding 6.7 billion euros in damages. The Romanian state will not pay any compensation to Gabriel Resources in the Roșia Montană case. On the other hand, Romania is going to recover court costs of about 10 million dollars.
Gabriel Resources has announced that it intends to appeal the arbitration decision and will file the request by July 7.
In April, the majority shareholder of Roşia Montană Gold Corporation SA, Gabriel Resources, sued the Office of the Trade Register near the Alba Court, the National Fiscal Administration Agency (ANAF). Gabriel Resources contests the seizure placed on RMGC shares on account of the debt of approximately 10 million dollars that Gabriel Resources has to the Romanian State, representing the damages awarded to the Romanian State following the winning of the trial held in Washington.
The post Gabriel Resources Appeals Romania’s Win in Roșia Montană Case appeared first on The Romania Journal.
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