BY FRANCIS JOSEPH
The Minister of Trade and Industry has won a battle at the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Last Friday, three British judges refused Ryan Nandlal and RBN Auto Dealers Ltd permission to appeal saying “Special leave is refused because the appeal is devoid of merit.” The panel members were Lord Sales, Lord Stephens and Lady Simler.
So what was the issue?
Whether the Respondent’s refusal to re-validate the import licences for certain imported cars after 2021 was an unlawful fettering of their discretion and/or was it otherwise unlawful on public law grounds, including Nandlal’s legitimate expectations of a re-validation or their unequal treatment by the Minister?
THE FACTS
One of the appellants, R.B.N Auto Dealers Ltd, is an automobile dealer that buys used vehicles from foreign jurisdictions, imports these vehicles into Trinidad and Tobago, and then sells them on the local market.
RBN sought to import two vehicles manufactured in 2018 under an import licence which was valid until the 31st of December 2021. RBN purchased the vehicles which were shipped from Japan on the 27th of November 2021.
Shortly after the ship departed, the Minister notified people that the Trade Licence Unit, the competent authority for issuing such import licences, would not be re-validating any import licences expiring on the 31st of December 2021 for right hand drive motor vehicles past their expiration date.
Due to delays brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the vehicles arrived in Trinidad and Tobago on the 8th of January 2022, after the import licence had expired on the 31st of December 2021.
Former Minister of Trade Paula Gopee-Scoon
Additionally, the age of the vehicles was now greater than three years since the year of manufacturing. In October 2020, the Minister of Finance had announced a new policy of not granting permission to import used cars older than three years since they were manufactured.
RBN requested that the import licence for the vehicles be re-validated to allow them to be imported into Trinidad and Tobago. The Minister of Trade rejected this request based on its non- extension policy and the three-year manufacturing age restriction policy.
RBN later discovered that at least one licence of other importers’ vehicles from 2018 had been extended notwithstanding these policies. RBN applied for judicial review of the Minister’s decision to not re-validate the import licence for the vehicles, and the High Court dismissed RBN’s claim.
RBN appealed to the Court of Appeal of Trinidad and Tobago. RBN’s appeal was also dismissed. The appellants then sought permission to appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
