US $277m Cassius Mining case against Ghana; Prof Oppong resigns from tribunal
Ghana contested the challenge, and the parties exchanged submissions on its admissibility and merits. Prof. Oppong recused himself from deciding the challenge but declined to resign from the Tribunal.
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Prof. Richard Oppong, a member of the International Tribunal Sitting on the US$277 million Arbitration case filed by Cassius Mining against the government of Ghana has resigned.
On 23 October 2024, Cassius filed a challenge seeking to remove Ghana’s party-appointed arbitrator, Prof. Richard Oppong, from the Tribunal.
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The grounds of the challenge were that Prof. Oppong had been nominated to the Supreme Court of Ghana, and failed to disclose that nomination, which gave rise to reasonable doubts over his independence or impartiality.
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Ghana contested the challenge, and the parties exchanged submissions on its admissibility and merits. Prof. Oppong recused himself from deciding the challenge but declined to resign from the Tribunal.
On 17 January 2025, the remaining members of the Tribunal found that the challenge was justified and admissible, and invited Prof. Oppong to voluntarily step aside to expedite the arbitral proceedings and minimise costs for the parties, failing which they would issue a formal decision.
They found that the “overall circumstances relied upon by [Cassius] in support of its Challenge do ‘give rise to reasonable cause to doubt as to the arbitrator’s independence or impartiality’”.
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On 17 January 2025, Prof. Oppong informed the remaining members of the Tribunal and the parties that he had decided to voluntarily step aside in response to the Tribunal’s invitation.
On 18 January 2025, the Tribunal invited the parties to confer about the procedure and timelines for appointment of a replacement arbitrator.
James Arkoudis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer comments: “The resignation of Prof. Oppong is a significant step in maintaining the integrity of the Arbitral proceedings and we welcome Prof. Oppong’s offer to resign as a Tribunal member.”
Cassius and its legal counsel are now considering the next steps, including the appointment of a replacement arbitrator and the potential implications of the successful challenge for the case.
Source: ghextractives.com
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