(Trinidad Express) The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) yesterday dismissed a claim by Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) against the Caricom Competition Commission accusing them of acting wrongly and giving them 21 days to pay court costs.
TCL claimed that the Commission acted wrongly in two main regards: specifically, they said the Commission had not requested their approval to conduct an investigation into their business activities and that the Commission had failed to respect the rights of TCL as an ‘interested party’ according to the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.
In a statement issued to the media yesterday, the CCJ said TCL’s case arose from the first matter undertaken by the Commission in fulfilment of its role under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas to protect and promote competition within the Community.
The statement explained that the Commission divided itself into two Panels and, unknown to TCL; the Investigating Panel had initiated and conducted an investigation of alleged anti-competitive business conduct by TCL.
Following the investigation, the Commission instructed TCL to appear at an Enquiry so that the Commission’s Adjudicating Panel could adjudicate on the matters raised in the investigation.
Upon being informed of the enquiry TCL immediately filed an application before the CCJ claiming that the decisions both to conduct the investigation and to hold the Enquiry were void.
“TCL argued that there had been no proper request for the investigation from the Caricom Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) and that in conducting the investigation ‘behind its back’ the Commission had failed to respect the rights of TCL,” the statement read.
On the issue of whether TCL had a right to be consulted and notified about the investigation, the CCJ stated that although it could be said that a targeted enterprise has an interest in being able to convince the Commission that, the proposed investigation was not justified in all the circumstances of the case, such interest is clearly outweighed by other considerations.
The Court also dismissed TCL’s claim that there was no proper request from COTED for the Commission to embark upon the investigation.
The Court was presided over by the President, Sir Dennis Byron along with Justice Adrian Saunders, Justice Desiree Bernard, Justice Jacob Wit and Justice Winston Anderson.
