Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

6.   Protection from deprivation of property

1.  

   (1)   No property of any description shall be compulsorily taken possession of, and no interest in or right over property of any description shall be compulsorily acquired, except for a public purpose and except where provision is made by a law applicable to that taking of possession or acquisition for the prompt payment of full compensation.

1.  

   (2)   Every person having an interest in or right over property that is compulsorily taken possession of or whose interest in or right over any property is compulsorily acquired shall have a right of direct access to the High Court for—

   1.  

      (a)     determining the nature and extent of that interest or right;

   1.  

      (b)     determining whether that taking of possession or acquisition was duly carried out in accordance with a law authorising the taking of possession or acquisition;

   1.  

      ©     determining what compensation he or she is entitled to under the law applicable to that taking of possession or acquisition;

   1.  

      (d)     obtaining that compensation:

1.  

   Provided that if Parliament so provides in relation to any matter referred to in paragraph (a) or (c) the right of access shall be by way of appeal (exercisable as of right at the instance of the person having the interest in or right over the property) from a tribunal or authority, other than the High Court, having jurisdiction under any law to determine that matter.

1.  

   (3)   The Chief Justice may make rules with respect to the practice and procedure of the High Court or, subject to such provision as may have been made in that behalf by Parliament, with respect to the practice and procedure of any other tribunal or authority in relation to the jurisdiction conferred on the High Court by subsection (2) or exercisable by the other tribunal or authority for the purposes of that subsection (including rules with respect to the time within which applications or appeals to the High Court or applications to the other tribunal or authority may be brought).

1.  

   (4)   No person who is entitled to compensation under this section shall be prevented from remitting, within a reasonable time after he or she has received any amount of that compensation in the form of a sum of money or, as the case may be, has received any such amount in some other form and has converted any of that amount into a sum of money, the whole of that sum of money (free from any deduction charge or tax made or levied in respect of its remission) to any country of his or her choice outside Saint Lucia.

1.  

   (5)   Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of subsection (4) to the extent that the law in question authorises—

   1.  

      (a)     the attachment, by order of a court, of any amount of compensation to which a person is entitled in satisfaction of the judgment of a court or pending the determination of civil proceedings to which he or she is a party;

   1.  

      (b)     the imposition of reasonable restrictions on the manner in which any sum of money is to be remitted; or

   1.  

      ©     the imposition of reasonable restrictions upon the remission of any sum of money in order to prevent or regulate the transfer to a country outside Saint Lucia of capital raised in Saint Lucia or in some other country or derived from the natural resources of Saint Lucia.

1.  

   (6)   Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of subsection (1)—

   1.  

      (a)     to the extent that the law in question makes provision for the taking of possession or acquisition of any property, interest or right—

      1.  

         (i)     in satisfaction of any tax, rate or due,

      1.  

         (ii)     by way of penalty for breach of any law or forfeiture in consequence of breach of any law,

      1.  

         (iii)     as an incident of a lease, tenancy, mortgage, hypothec, charge, bill of sale, pledge or contract,

      1.  

         (iv)     in the execution of judgments or orders of a court in proceedings for the determination of civil rights or obligations,

      1.  

         (v)     in circumstances where it is reasonably necessary so to do because the property is in a dangerous state or likely to be injurious to the health of human beings, animals or plants,

      1.  

         (vi)     in consequence of any law with respect to the limitation of actions, or

      1.  

         (vii)     for so long only as may be necessary for the purposes of any examination, investigation, trial or inquiry or, in the case of land, for the purposes of the carrying out thereon of work of soil conservation or the conservation of other natural resources or work relating to agricultural development or improvement (being work relating to such development or improvement that the owner or occupier of the land has been required, and has without reasonable excuse refused or failed, to carry out),

1.  

   and except so far as that provision or, as the case may be, the thing done under the authority thereof is shown not to be reasonably justifiable in a democratic society; or

   1.  

      (b)     to the extent that the law in question makes provision for the taking of possession or acquisition of any of the following property (including an interest in or right over property), that is to say—

      1.  

         (i)     enemy property,

      1.  

         (ii)     property of a deceased person, a person of unsound mind or a person who has not attained the age of 18 years, for the purpose of its administration for the benefit of the persons entitled to the beneficial interest therein,

      1.  

         (iii)     property of a person adjudged bankrupt or a body corporate in liquidation, for the purpose of its administration for the benefit of the creditors of the bankrupt or body corporate and, subject thereto, for the benefit of other persons entitled to the beneficial interest in the property, or

      1.  

         (iv)     property subject to a trust, for the purpose of vesting the property in persons appointed as trustees under the instrument creating the trust or by a court or, by order of a court, for the purpose of giving effect to the trust.

1.  

   (7)   Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any law enacted by Parliament shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of this section to the extent that the law in question makes provision for the compulsory taking of possession of any property, or the compulsory acquisition of any interest in or right over property, where that property, interest or right is held by a body corporate established by law for public purposes in which no monies have been invested other than monies provided by Parliament.

1.  

   (8)   In this section—

“property” means any land or other thing capable of being owned or held in possession and includes any right relating thereto, whether under a contract, trust or law or otherwise and whether present or future, absolute or conditional;

“acquisition”, in relation to an interest in or right over property, means transferring that interest or right to another person or extinguishing or curtailing that interest or right.