All findings and awards decided by Dr Gonzalo Stampa are null and void after the Paris Court of Appeal yesterday ruled that he has no jurisdiction or powers to act as an arbitrator in the Sulu claimants’ case.

Lawyer Ahmad Shamil Azad Abdul Hamid said that yesterday’s decision also hampered the efforts of eight citizens of the Philippines, who are purported heirs of the long-defunct Sultan of Sulu (Sulu claimants) in trying to claim compensation from the Malaysian Government.

“The effect of the finding of the Paris Court of Appeal is that all execution orders made by the claimants pertaining to the initial award can be challenged,” he said on BernamaTV’s The Brief programme today.

Ahmad Shamil Azad further said that the Superior Court of Madrid had revoked Stampa’s appointment as an arbitrator and ordered him to cease the process.

“However, Stampa chose to ignore the order and transferred the venue of arbitration to France after it was granted an exequatur order,” he added.

The lawyer said since the Superior Court of Madrid had agreed to annul the appointment of Stampa as the arbitrator and the Court of Appeal in France also agreed Stampa had no authority or jurisdiction to hear the claim by the claimants, any decision made by him is no longer binding and can be deemed to be null and void.

Yesterday, the Paris Court of Appeal upheld Malaysia’s challenge against the partial award rendered on May 25, 2020, by Stampa in the Sulu claimants case.

The group claiming to be heirs of the Sulu Sultanate was reported to have taken legal action in the Spanish Court to seek compensation for land in Sabah, which was allegedly leased by their ancestors to a British trading company in 1878.

They then took the matter to the Spanish arbitrator in 2019 and the purported arbitrator, Stampa, who was appointed by the group of individuals, decided in the claimants’ favour.

Stampa had issued a final award of US$14.9 billion (RM62.59 billion) against Malaysia and Malaysia had used all legal remedies to annul the award given by Stampa to the claimants in courts in Spain, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

On March 14 this year, the Paris Court of Appeal upheld the stay order obtained by the Malaysian Government in France on July 12, 2022, against the enforcement of the award.

Therefore, the suspension order obtained by Malaysia regarding the enforcement of the award is maintained.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency