Court Cases Against Sandline Withdrawn Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source - VIKKI@law.uts.edu.au Thu May 20 21:30:56 1999 The Independent (PNG) - 21 May 99 Court cases against Sandline withdrawn by NEVILLE CHOI COURT actions initiated by the PNG government against Sandline International have been discontinued. Instructions from chief state lawyer and Attorney General's Department Secretary Michael Gene to lawyers in London, and Australia where court cases between the PNG government and Sandline International were being arbitrated, have directed that all litigation proceedings be discontinued as the first step towards an agreed out of court settlement between the two parties. Sandline International and the PNG Government earlier this month, agreed on an out of court settlement to end the two-year court battle. To pave the way for the paying out of a total of US$25 million dollars by the PNG government to Sandline, both parties agreed to discontinue all commercial litigation and refrain from initiating any fresh actions relating to the contract, both in Papua New Guinea and abroad. But although the PNG government has issued instructions for the discontinuation of all commercial litigation against Sandline, Mr Gene said any court cases against anyone involved in the Sandline contract controversy in PNG are still in the courts and will still be dealt with. Commercial litigation against Sandline International that have been terminated are a civil action by the state against Sandline International and Tim Spicer and an appeal in the Queensland Supreme Court against an interim award against the state. Mr Gene said however, that a Supreme Court Reference filed in the Waigani Supreme Court on the legality of the contract and other domestic issues would remain. Meanwhile, Markham MP Andrew Baing this week reiterated calls by the opposition for a full enquiry into the agreed settlement deal between Sandline and the state. Mr Baing questioned why a 'confidentiality clause' had been inserted in the contract to prevent publicity on the terms of the deal. "The insertion of a 'confidentiality clause' smacks of suspicion, non-transparency and sinister motives. The settlement deal must be revealed. "The fact that the government lawyers were not involved in setting the legality and propriety of the deal calls for both the terms to be made public, and if not a public enquiry. "The Sandline Affair has been subjected to two commissions of inquiry with clear conclusions and recommendations as to what has to be done by appropriate authorities. There was no 'confidentiality clause' in the Sandline contract. Therefore the public is entitled to know why it is so this time. "The people of Papua New Guinea must be told of the terms and which side settled for what gains to withdraw the ongoing legal battle between the state and Sandline," Mr Baing said. He also questioned why the government's chief economic advisor Perouz Hamidian-Rad had been the sole negotiator of the settlement deal. "What status did Dr Hamidian-Rad have to secretly negotiate this deal without state lawyers? What did he, if anything, gain from this deal? "These are some of the questions that only an enquiry can help answer. So we must investigate and or set up an enquiry to establish the circumstances surrounding this deal," he said. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytpac-05.23.99-00:32:25-6770