CCJ rejects appeal for breach of contract against Geest Industries in St Lucia

On Tuesday, June 10, 2025, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) dismissed an appeal filed by Saint Lucia in the case of LCCV2024/003 Exquisite Homes Limited v Geest Industries (Estate) Limited, which challenged the decision of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. The appeal centered on whether Geest Industries had committed a significant breach of a land sale agreement with Exquisite Homes prior to the land being compulsorily acquired by the Government.

In June 2019, Geest Industries agreed to sell Parcel 314 to Exquisite Homes. However, before the transaction could be finalized, the Government, in July 2019, compulsorily acquired the land. Geest Industries had previously submitted a proposal for the land’s acquisition in August 2018 at the Government’s invitation, which was approved in principle by the Government in March 2019. Nonetheless, the formal legal procedures necessary for the compulsory acquisition were still pending at that time.

The CCJ reported that Exquisite Homes initiated a claim in the High Court seeking damages for breach of contract and unlawful interference with contractual relations. The company argued that Geest Industries had repudiated the contract by engaging in negotiations and discussions with the Government about the compulsory acquisition of the land. A repudiatory breach, they contended, is so grave that it justifies treating the contract as terminated. The trial judge ruled that the agreement was frustrated by the Government’s compulsory acquisition of Parcel 314 before the scheduled completion date, which prevented Geest Industries from transferring clear title and providing vacant possession to Exquisite Homes. The Court of Appeal upheld this decision, affirming that Exquisite Homes had not demonstrated any repudiatory breach by Geest Industries.

Before the CCJ, Exquisite Homes argued that the Court of Appeal erred in finding no evidence of a repudiatory breach before the Government’s acquisition of Parcel 314. The appellant maintained that Geest Industries failed to fulfill its contractual obligation to transfer the land because it engaged in private negotiations with the Government, effectively facilitating the acquisition.

In delivering the CCJ’s judgment, Honourable Mme Justice Ononaiwu concurred with the Court of Appeal’s conclusion that Exquisite Homes had not provided sufficient evidence to establish that Geest Industries committed a repudiatory breach prior to the land’s compulsory acquisition.

The Court found that the acquisition of Parcel 314 was carried out in accordance with the procedures set out in Saint Lucia’s Land Acquisition Act. There was no indication of a private agreement between the Government and Geest Industries geared toward land acquisition. The Court observed that negotiations between the two parties were part of the statutory compulsory acquisition process, and until the Government took formal legal steps to acquire the land, Geest Industries remained entitled to deal with it.

Consequently, the appeal was dismissed, and Exquisite Homes was ordered to pay the costs of the proceedings.

The case was heard by the Honourable Justices Anderson, Rajnauth-Lee, Barrow, Jamadar, and Ononaiwu. The appellant was represented by Mr. Horace Renison Fraser, while the respondent was represented by Mrs. Cynthia Hinkson-Ouhla, Mrs. Esther Greene-Ernest, and Ms. Carol Gideon-Clovis.

Full judgment available here: www.ccj.com