Caribbean Welding Supplies Ltd v Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad and Tobago)
Why It Matters
The decision will clarify the limits of appellate and trial court powers to order specific restitution after monetary judgments, affecting how commercial property disputes and detention claims are litigated and remedied in Trinidad and Tobago. It also has wider implications for creditors and state recoveries where concurrent monetary awards and return-of-property claims intersect.
Summary
The appeal concerns whether the Court of Appeal erred in ordering Caribbean Welding Supplies to deliver up a 210B excavator to the State after damages were awarded. The appellant argues the Court lacked jurisdiction to make a delivery-up order and that the damages awarded—pleaded as depreciation—do not amount to double recovery. Counsel relied on authorities such as Cook’s Cars and Brandish Goldman to show prior judgments had fixed the available remedies, leaving only quantum for determination and precluding a subsequent order for return of property. The core dispute is therefore procedural and remedial: whether earlier final orders limited what subsequent judges could lawfully award.
Comments
Want to join the conversation?
Loading comments...