The High Court of Saint Lucia has rejected Opposition Leader Allen Chastanet’s attempt to block Saint Lucia’s Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP), ruling that his application was based on speculation and lacked credible evidence.
The decision, handed down last week, was welcomed by Investment Minister Dr. Ernest Hilaire, who said it vindicated the government’s approach to managing the programme and its suspension of the controversial infrastructure option.
“If you read the judgment, you know the judge has already signalled a number of wrongs in which the injunction was not granted,” Dr. Hilaire explained. “A major observation by her was that a lot of the evidence that was provided was speculative.”
According to Dr. Hilaire, the Opposition Leader’s claims were not grounded in fact.
“He was saying things that happened in other countries and assuming and claiming that they were also happening in Saint Lucia,” he said. “He would have to come and really prove it, and we’ve always said those matters and Martinez’s matters had nothing to do with Saint Lucia.”
The minister said the ruling confirmed what the government had maintained all along, that there was no basis for the injunction and that Chastanet’s legal action had only delayed potential development.
“I made the point in Parliament,” he said, “can you imagine if the infrastructure option that we had signed had actually started, because we never got to start it? Do you know what hundreds of millions of dollars could have been spent in the last two years upgrading roads all over Saint Lucia, bridges, playing fields, sporting facilities, and cultural facilities?”
Dr. Hilaire estimated that the country could have benefited from nearly half a billion dollars in investment under the programme.
“Just imagine having almost 500 million dollars to spend over two to three years on infrastructure in the country,” he added. “And that’s what he stopped. He actually stopped it.”
At paragraph 100 of the judgment, Justice Cenac-Phulgence explained that Chastanet is liable to pay Dr Hilaire’s and the CIP Unit’s legal costs.
“In all the circumstances and based on the foregoing discussion and the submissions of the parties, the application for interim injunction filed by the claimant [Allen Chastanet] on 20th February 2025 is refused. The claimant, having been unsuccessful in his application, is liable to pay costs to the 1st and 2nd defendants [Dr. Ernest Hilaire; the CIP Board, respectively],” reads the judgment.
The substantive claim will be heard by the High Court in January 2026.