PHILIPSBURG:--- On Monday, April 24, 2023, the Court in First Instance of Sint Maarten rendered its judgment in the case of Roxanne (Roxxy) Webster against the Sint Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) and Soualiga Kaiso Artistes Foundation (SKAF), whereby the Court ordered SMCDF to allow Roxxy to participate in the 2023 Senior Calypso Competition Finals on April 26, 2023. Non-compliance on SCDF’s end could lead to a penalty of US$ 10,000.00. Roxxy was represented by our firm (Nancy Joubert).
Two days after participating in the Calypso Eliminations on March 24, 2023, SCDF brought out a press release which it posted on its Facebook page, wherein it informed the public of the disqualification of two participants, one of which was Roxxy. Roxxy learned of her disqualification on Facebook as SCDF did not contact her prior to making the aforementioned public statement. The reason for the disqualification was SCDF's non-compliance with the so-called “originality” criteria as Roxxy’s song was already performed in another Calypso competition.
Roxxy initiated an injunction case against SCDF as well as SKAF in which she requested the Court to condemn SCDF and/or SKAF to retract/suspend her disqualification due to noncompliance with the “originality” criteria effective immediately. Additionally, Roxxy requested the Court to order SCDF and/or SKAF to allow her to participate in the 2023 Senior Calypso Competition on April 26, 2023, under a penalty of US$ 10,000.00 in the event this command is not complied with.
After hearing the arguments of all parties involved during the hearing on Friday, April 21, 2023, the Court found that SCDF has not presented any facts/and or circumstances from which can be deduced that Roxxy was aware of the criteria at the time of her registration. The criteria were not provided to her in hard copy nor were they sent to her. Only after her disqualification, she became aware of the criteria. Furthermore, Roxxy did not accept the criteria. Notwithstanding, SCDF allowed her to participate in the Eliminations. Consequently, the criteria have not become part of the agreement between Roxxy and SCDF and can hence not be applied to her detriment.
The Court ends its considerations by stating that the disqualification decision without hearing Roxxy and the manner in which it was made public constitute a breach of contract from SCDF and/or aforementioned actions against Roxxy can be termed unlawful. The damage as a result thereof has to be compensated by SCDF to Roxxy. For this reason, the Court orders SCDF to allow Roxxy to participate in the Finals of the 2023 Senior Calypso Competition. To ensure that Roxxy will actually be allowed to participate, the order is reinforced with a penalty of US$ 10,000.00 which would have to be paid to Roxxy in the event SCDF, after having been served the judgment, does not comply.
