PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Jun 11, CMC – The Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal from Saint Lucia in which Exquisite Homes Limited had claimed that Geest Industries had committed a serious breach of a contract for the sale of land before it was compulsorily acquired by the St. Lucia government.
In June 2019, Geest Industries contracted to sell to Exquisite Homes land and prior to the completion date of the contract, the government compulsorily acquired Geest Industries’ lands, including the land for Exquiste Homes in July 2019.
At the government’s invitation, Geest Industries had submitted a proposal in August 2018 for the acquisition of its lands and the government had approved the acquisition of those lands in March 2019, but the legal procedure for acquiring the lands remained to be done.
Exquisite Homes brought a claim in the High Court for damages for breach of contract and unlawful interference with contractual relations. It contended that by inviting and negotiating with the government for the compulsory acquisition of the land, Geest Industries had committed a repudiatory breach of the contract.
A repudiatory breach is one that is so serious that it entitled Exquisite Homes to treat the contract as discharged.
But the trial judge determined that the agreement had been frustrated by the government’s compulsory acquisition of the lands before the completion date, with the result that Geest Industries was unable to transfer title and provide vacant possession to Exquisite Homes.
The Court of Appeal upheld this ruling and found that Exquisite Homes had not presented any evidence of a repudiatory breach of the agreement by Geest Industries.
But at the CCJ, which is St. Lucia’s highest and final court, Exquisite Homes contended that the Court of Appeal was wrong to find no evidence of a repudiatory breach of the contract by Geest Industries before the government’s acquisition of the land.
Exquisite Homes argued that Geest Industries did not fulfil its contractual obligation to convey Parcel 314 due to its own fault, by negotiating a private agreement with the government for the acquisition of its lands.
In delivering the judgment of the Court, Justice Chantal Ononaiwu agreed with the Court of Appeal’s finding that Exquisite Homes had failed to provide evidence that Geest Industries had committed a repudiatory breach of the contract before the government’s acquisition.
The CCJ concluded that the evidence showed that the land had been compulsorily acquired in conformity with the procedure under the Land Acquisition Act of St. Lucia.
The CCJ also found no evidence of a private agreement between the St. Lucia government and Geest Industries for the acquisition of its lands.
It noted that the negotiations between the government and Geest Industries for the purchase of those lands were part of the compulsory acquisition procedure specified under that Act. Until the government actually took the legal steps to acquire, Geest Industries continued to be able to deal with its land. Accordingly, the CCJ dismissed the appeal and ordered Exquisite Homes to pay to Geest Industries the costs of the appeal.
CMC/ah/ir/2025