Hearing of RI?s application for dismissal of Churchill lawsuit completed
Saturday, August 15 2015 - 05:33 AM WIB
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) has completed the hearing of Indonesian government?s application for dismissal of arbitration case filed by LSE-listed Churchill Mining Plc and its subsidiary.
Indonesia's application for dismissal of the arbitration case on the grounds of document authenticity was heard in Singapore between August 3 and 4, 2015.
It remains unclear, however, when the tribunal will make its decision, Churchill said in a statement obtained Saturday in an update about the arbitration case.
Churchill Mining and its wholly owned subsidiary Planet Mining Pty Ltd filed the lawsuit against Indonesia with ICSID Tribunal due to what the companies claim as unlawful revocation of the mining licenses relating to the East Kutai Coal Project in East Kalimantan (EKCP), Indonesia, in which Churchill and Planet held a 75 percent interest.
The conduct of the hearing included fact witnesses, oral presentations and expert witnesses. All of the witnesses for Churchill/Planet whom Indonesia requested for cross-examination attended the hearing. All of the witnesses for Indonesia whom Churchill/Planet requested for cross-examination attended the hearing, except Isran Noor (Noor until his recent resignation held the office of Bupati or Regent of East Kutai). Noor declined to attend the proceedings.
In view of his non-attendance, the Tribunal ordered that Noor's witness statement be struck out and disregarded.
Churchill's Chairman David Quinlivan said: "We are pleased that the hearing of Indonesia's dismissal application has now been completed save for the presentation of post-hearing briefs by both sides. Overall, the hearing was a useful exercise but it is disappointing that Mr Noor, one of Indonesia's key witnesses, chose not to attend the hearing, as we had a number of questions we wished to put to him. We look forward to having this aspect of the case decided so we can move ahead with having our merits claims determined."
The specific questions to be addressed by the parties in post-hearing briefs will be set out in a procedural order to be issued by the Tribunal shortly. There is no fixed date for the Tribunal to deliver its decision on Indonesia's dismissal application, although the decision is unlikely to be handed down for some months, Churchill said.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak