Monrovia – Colony Included a enterprise owned by a Liberian, the present leaseholder and operator of the previous Palm Spring Resort property in Congo City, is elevating severe authorized issues following a current communication from the Debt Court docket for Montserrado County, instructing it to adjust to enforcement measures associated to a Supreme Court docket ruling in favor of Chinese language businesswoman, Ms. Ding Shu Jun.
By Willie N. Tokpah
The Debt Court docket, performing on an order from the Supreme Court docket of Liberia, claims it’s implementing a remaining judgment within the sum of US$1,355,886.00 in opposition to Mr. Najib Kamand, the Judgment Debtor.
Nonetheless, Colony Included insists that it’s not, and has by no means been, a celebration to the case, and that its property is being wrongfully focused.
“We Are Not A part of This Case,” Colony Included famous.
In response to the Debt Court docket’s transfer, Colony Included have issued a powerful rebuttal, stating that the property now being earmarked for closure was legally leased to Colony Included way back to September 2, 2020, and is not owned or managed by Mr. Najib Kamand or any enterprise related to him.
“The Supreme Court docket’s judgment by no means named Colony Included. Our consumer is a separate authorized entity, with no enterprise or possession ties to Mr. Kamand or his former corporations,” Colony Inc., administration mentioned.
“We query the authorized foundation for this enforcement try, particularly after the Debt Court docket itself beforehand dominated that Colony Included was not liable or linked to this debt.”
Contradictory Enforcement Efforts Increase Questions
The transfer by the Debt Court docket comes after the identical court docket issued a July 31 ruling in favor of Colony Included, granting its Invoice of Info and ordering the court docket’s Clerk and Sheriff to unseal the corporate’s premises and desist from any enforcement motion in opposition to it.
That judgment was primarily based on a overview of Colony Inc.’s Articles of Incorporation and lease settlement with the Intestate Property of the Late Lawrence A. Morgan, the unique proprietor of the Palm Spring property.
The Debt Court docket beforehand acknowledged that Mr. Bou Najm Khaled, not Najib Kamand, is the only real proprietor of Colony Included, which operates independently from the entities concerned within the debt case.
Now, nevertheless, Colony Included finds itself as soon as once more within the crosshairs of enforcement, this time below the instruction of the Supreme Court docket’s mandate, a mandate the corporate says doesn’t identify them or their belongings.
Authorized and Enterprise Implications
The scenario has sparked authorized confusion and concern amongst enterprise house owners and authorized practitioners, who fear concerning the rising danger of third-party companies being entangled in enforcement actions to which they’re legally unrelated.
“you can not implement judgments in opposition to properties or entities not included within the court docket’s remaining determination,” mentioned a authorized observer.
“If this turns into a sample, it sends the mistaken message to buyers and enterprise operators about property rights and judicial due course of.”
Colony Included argues that the enforcement is just not solely illegal however might trigger irreparable hurt to its operations, employees, and status.
Although Colony Included is just not formally listed as a celebration to the case, it stays unclear whether or not representatives from its authorized workforce can be invited to defend its pursuits, which the corporate says are being infringed upon regardless of prior authorized readability.
Colony Inc. has vowed to pursue all out there authorized cures to forestall what it calls an unjust and illegal enforcement of a judgment to which it’s neither a debtor nor celebration.
The Rule of Legislation at a Crossroads
Because the judiciary seeks to implement judgments pretty and effectively, instances like this one elevate vital issues about procedural overreach and property rights safety.
Colony Included’s case might now function a check of whether or not Liberia’s courts can implement debt rulings with out violating the rights of unrelated third events, a precept important to sustaining investor confidence and the sanctity of company autonomy within the nation.