Friedland (Appellant) v Hickox (Respondent) (Anguilla)

Case summary

Case ID

JCPC/2019/0081

Jurisdiction

Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court

Parties

Appellant(s)

Friedland

Respondent(s)

Hickox

Issue

The proper construction of a settlement agreement and two awards issued by a mediator in the settlement of a dispute.

Facts

On 5 March 1981, an entity headed by Mr Friedland acquired a lease with the intention of developing the property into the Cap Juluca luxury resort (the "Cap Juluca Property"). On 14 October 1986, the shares in that vehicle were sold to an entity controlled by Mr Hickox. A dispute arose concerning the payment for those shares, which was settled on 6 May 1996 (the "Settlement Agreement").A further dispute arose concerning payments due under the Settlement Agreement. On 12 November 1997, the mediator of this dispute issued an award (the "Final Award"). On 20 July 1998, the mediator issued a further award (the "Amplification Award") to clarify the Final Award. In May 2012, Mr Hickox exercised his powers under charges registered against leasehold title to the Cap Juluca Property to sell that title. Mr Friedland alleges that this sale was in breach of the Settlement Agreement, the Final Award and the Amplification Award. He seeks damages for breach of contract.In a trial of preliminary issues, the High Court (Anguilla Circuit) ruled in favour of Mr Hickox, holding that he had been free to enforce the charges. Mr Friedland appealed to the Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. The appeal was dismissed. Mr Friedland now appeals to Her Majesty in Council.

Date of issue

25 July 2019

Judgment details

Judgment date

1 February 2021

Neutral citation

[2021] UKPC 3

Judgment links

Appeal

Justices

Lord Lloyd-Jones

Lord Briggs

Lord Arden

Lord Burrows

Lord Stephens

Hearing dates

Full hearing

Start date

17 November 2020

End date

18 November 2020

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