P.A. diamond case drags on
Diamonds took eons to form in the earth’s upper mantle. The legal dispute between a Prince Albert company and a Belgian firm over a long-standing diamond debt is starting to feel just as long.
In a Prince Albert Queen’s Bench courtroom Tuesday the defendant, Prince Albert’s Embee Diamond Technologies Inc. (which is run by City Councilor Evert Botha), applied to have the long-running legal matter moved to the Belgian courts. The plaintiff, I.D.H of Belgium, is seeking payment for an order of diamonds it supplied Embee in 2011. Legal proceedings started in late 2015, and the debt now sits at approximately $850,000 including interest.
Embee has already lost two court rulings – one in provincial court and the other in the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal – in which they argued, in part, to have the debt claim dismissed based on the statute of limitations. They argued too much time had passed since the debt was incurred, though the Appeal Court ruled the limitation period had not expired.
In their latest legal bid to contest the debt, Embee’s lawyer Peter V. Abrametz claimed Saskatchewan does not have jurisdiction on the matter, in part because invoices sent by I.D.H along with their claim for payment stipulated that Belgian law applies. Abrametz also cited Canadian Supreme Court precedent regarding foreign contracts, and said this case needs to be settled in Belgium.