The Supreme Court has upheld an application by the government to stay a legal action by the Pacific Games Council and the Tonga Sports Association and National Olympic Committee.
The Council and TASANOC sued the government for damages over breach of a written agreement of a contract (the Host Contract) dating to 2012 under which the Government agreed to host the Pacific Games in Tonga in 2019.
The plaintiffs argued that as a result of what they claimed was a breach of the Host Contract the plaintiffs had suffered loss and damage, including losses associated with obtaining Samoa to host the Games.
In the case of PGC this amounted to TP$4,581,901.49 and in the case of TASANOC, to TP$2,612,256.59.
The government sought to strike out or stay the plaintiffs’ claims.
It argued that the plaintiffs’ statement of claim did not disclose a reasonable cause of action against the Kingdom as the Host Contract, and specifically the fiscal and financial provisions of it requiring the Government to effectively underwrite the 2019 Pacific Games (the Games), were never binding upon the Government and/or became a ‘dead letter’ on 5 September 2017 upon the repeal of the legislation enacted to provide for the organization of the Games, the Pacific Games Organization Act 2013 (the Act);
It argued that the plaintiffs were not parties to the Host Contract and had no standing to sue upon it.
It also argued that the plaintiffs’ claims of damages are misconceived and the damages claims should be stayed until any actual losses could be determined following the holding of the Games, which would now take place in Samoa.
Lord Chief Justice Paulsen said the statement of claim submitted by the council and TASANOC was defective.
He said it failed to identify the plaintiffs (or misdescribed them) and failed also to provide a basis upon which they had standing to sue upon the Host Contract and failed to adequately plead the basis and particulars of the damages claims.
“While I accept the damages claims can be reformulated in an amended pleading it is not at all clear to me that the matters are capable of repair, justifying me striking out the pleading and dismissing the action,” the judge said.
Lord Chief Justice Paulsen said the council and TASANOC could apply no later than January next year to lift the stay subject to them providing a draft amended statement of claim for the Court’s approval.
The main points
- The Supreme Court has upheld an application by the government to stay an legal action by the Pacific Games Council and the Tonga Sports Association and National Olympic
- The Council and TASANOC sued the government for damages over breach of a written agreement of a contract (the Host Contract) dating to 2012 under which the Government agreed to host the Pacific Games in Tonga in
