Thammasat University's law association will submit a petition asking the government, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), and the Transport Ministry to fight a court order for them to pay 58 billion baht to Hong Kong's Hopewell Holdings over a cancelled rail project.
The move was revealed following a seminar hosted by TU's law association on Saturday about the legal dispute surrounding the Hopewell elevated highway and rail line, after the Supreme Administrative Court on April 22 ordered that payments be made to the firm within 180 days.
Somsak Chitipalungsri, chairman of the TU's Law Association, said the Hopewell dispute is a case study for putting in place measures to prevent mistakes when legal disputes between a state agency and a private firm arise with the public interest at stake.
Mr Somsak stopped short of saying when the petition will be lodged, but suggested that the government should retain its right to fight the case -- such as requesting a new trial, which is allowed under the law governing the establishment of the Administrative Court.
The association is also proposing legal amendments involving the use of the Arbitration Tribunal to settle legal disputes between a state agency and a private firm.
Construction of the project began in 1990, but was suspended in 1992. The project ground to a halt amid much legal wrangling in 1997, when it was just over 10% complete, and was finally cancelled in 1998.
While the government, under different transport ministers, urged the company to expedite the construction, the company said it faced many problems. Meanwhile, cabinet meeting reports and Thailand Development Research Institute studies found other problems related to the project, including a lack of clarity, delays in finalising the contract, financial support, as well as the conflicts between the construction design and requirements of the related laws.
After the contract's termination, the dispute was heard by the Arbitration Tribunal, which ruled in favour of Hopewell Holdings. The SRT sought the Administrative Court's intervention and the court overruled the Arbitration Tribunal's ruling.
The tribunal lacked the authority to decide on the Hopewell project, because Hopewell filed its complaint after the five-year arbitration complaint period had ended, according to the Central Administrative Court's ruling.
However, the SRT lost the legal battle in the Supreme Administrative Court last month, which upheld the Arbitration Tribunal's decision made over a decade ago.