CCC elevates court order to Court of Appeals

The Commonwealth Casino Commission has appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit the recent decision of the U.S. District Court for the NMI to grant Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC’s request for a preliminary injunction.

The Commonwealth Casino Commission, through assistant attorney general Keisha Blaise, notified the U.S District Court Friday that it has asked the Court of Appeals to review and possibly reverse Chief Judge Ramona Manglona’s decision to grant IPI a preliminary injunction and motion to compel arbitration.

The preliminary injunction granted by the District Court for the NMI prohibits the commission from revoking IPI’s exclusive casino license while the casino investor pursues its right to arbitration.

An injunction is similar to a temporary restraining order in terms of prohibiting a party, in this case the CCC, from carrying out an action. However, an injunction is a more long-term solution as it prohibits CCC from revoking IPI’s license pending arbitration. 

Arbitration is essentially a procedure wherein two parties agree on one or more arbitrators to make a decision in their dispute in order to resolve a disagreement outside of court proceedings.

Last August, Manglona granted IPI’s motion for preliminary injunction and motion to compel arbitration against CCC.

In an official ordered issued by the court in September, Manglona said she granted IPI’s requests because IPI has the right to pursue arbitration pursuant to its casino license agreement and they should be given a chance to do so.

“For the foregoing reasons, the court finds that it has the authority to decide whether IPI has waived its right to arbitrate pursuant to the CLA, and that in this case, IPI has not waived its right to arbitrate as to the allegations in the 2021 complaints, which are the subject of the 2022 revocation hearing before the Commonwealth Casino Commission,” the judge said.

“Additionally, IPI must be allowed to arbitrate all disputes on the applicability of its force majeure defense to the allegations contained in the 2021 complaints. The court therefore grants IPI’s motion for a preliminary injunction, enjoining the CCC from proceeding with the 2022 revocation hearing based on the 2021 complaints; and grants IPI’s motion to compel the CCC to submit to arbitration pursuant to Section 30 of the CLA,” Manglona added.