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Delays in paying 25 billion to Hopewell! The Administrative Court dismisses the petition filed by the “Ministry of Transport – SRT”
It is finally over! for Hopewell’s case, which has lasted 30 years. The Central Administrative Court has issued an order to dismiss the petition to suspend or a stay, and has ordered the “Ministry of Transport – SRT” to abide by an arbitral award to pay compensation of 25 billion within 180 days, counting from the final ruling of the case.
On April 9, the Central Administrative Court has issued an order to the petition to suspend or a stay in the undecided case number Or.410-412/2557 and the decided case number 221-223, or famously known as the Hopewell case. The Supreme Administrative Court ruled on April 22, 2019, requiring the Ministry of Transport and the State Railways of Thailand (SRT) to comply with the arbitral award. The award amounts to 11,888 million baht plus 7.5% interest per annum to Hopewell (Thailand) Co., Ltd. within 180 days, counting from the date of the final ruling.
The Court reasoned that “upon the final ruling of the Supreme Administrative Court in the undecided case number Or.410-412/2557 and the decided case number 221-223, whereby the Ministry of Transport and SRT must comply with the arbitral award. Even though the Ministry of Transport and SRT claimed that it was still in the Court’s proceedings and filed a petition to the Constitutional Court through the Ombudsman questioning whether the resolution of the general meeting of the judges of the Supreme Administrative Court No. 18/2545 on November 27, 2002, contradicts the Constitution and the Act establishing the Administrative Court and Administrative Court Procedure B.E. 2542 or not. SRT had filed a lawsuit with the Administrative Court to revoke Hopewell (Thailand) Company Limited’s registration, and the Ministry of Transport and SRT investigated to find out who was responsible for civil and disciplinary misconduct in the project regarding the elevated rail transport in Bangkok (Hopewell).
However, at this stage, the Court found that such cases are not a valid reason to meet the conditions for the suspension of the award, which is in accordance with Article 131 of the Regulation of the General Meeting of Judges in the Supreme Administrative Court on Administrative Procedure B.E. 2543. There is no law giving jurisdiction to request for a stay of the award. Additionally, the Court has already made a final ruling based on Section 73, paragraph four of the Establishment of the Administrative Court Act, B.E. 2542; therefore, the Court has no reason to issue an order of stay as well.
Therefore, the Supreme Administrative Court has ordered that the Ministry of Transport and SRT comply with the arbitral award by paying a compensation of 11,888 million baht plus 7.5% interest per annum to Hopewell (Thailand) Co., Ltd. Recently, the principal and interest amount have increased to more than 25 billion baht.
Nevertheless, the Constitutional Court ruling has been contested by the Ministry of Transport and SRT to consider whether to submit a petition to the Administrative Court to consider dismantling the Hopewell case or not, even though a final ruling has been made on the case. Stay tuned for more updates and news at www.thac.or.th
