Dominican Republic v Lee-Chin - United States District Court for the District of Columbia Civil Action No 2023-3821 - Memorandum Opinion - 31 March 2026

Country

Year

2026

Summary

MEMORANDUM OPINION

In 2007, a municipality in the Dominican Republic (referred to here as the "Dominican Republic") entered into an agreement with a Dominican company, Lajun, to manage a landfill. Lajun failed to fulfill its obligations under the agreement between 2007 and 2013. In 2013, Michael Anthony Lee-Chin, a dual citizen of Jamaica and Canada, acquired an indirect 90% interest in both Lajun and the land on which the landfill was located. But the Dominican Republic and Lajun continued to have disputes about the administration of the landfill. So, in 2017, the Dominican Republic terminated the Lajun landfill agreement, initiated administrative proceedings to nullify the agreement, and, by 2018, won an administrative ruling declaring the agreement void.

Lee-Chin quickly initiated arbitration proceedings against the Dominican Republic under the Agreement Establishing the Free Trade Area (the "Treaty"), which, in relevant part, protects qualifying investors who invest in the Dominican Republic from expropriation, unfair and inequitable treatment, arbitrary and discriminatory measures, and breaches of contract. See Pet'r's Ex. 5, Dkt. No. 1-7 at 3-4. Lee-Chin's allegations concerned the Treaty's obligations regarding expropriation and fair and equitable treatment ("FET").

The arbitration proceedings were bifurcated into an initial hearing on jurisdiction and a subsequent hearing on the merits and damages. The initial hearing on jurisdiction took place in Washington, DC, over two days in February 2020, with the tribunal concluding that it had jurisdiction over Lee-Chin's claims.

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