Speeches, Statements & International Documents

1. I have just returned from the Madrid Criminal Court following the opening of the criminal trial against Gonzalo Stampa. This hearing forms part of the criminal proceedings brought by the Spanish Public Prosecutor’s Office and Malaysia, as the complainant, against Mr. Stampa, as defendant. We will soon be waiting for a judgement from the Court.

2. As the Court was informed this morning, this matter affects Malaysia’s most basic and fundamental right to sovereign immunity, and we have the utmost confidence in the Spanish judicial system in delivering justice to the 32 million Malaysians.

3. The proceedings this morning proceeded as planned with Malaysia’s legal Counsel and the Spanish Public Prosecutor effectively putting the case against Mr. Stampa before the Judge.

4. By way of summary, the Spanish Public Prosecutor’s Office and Malaysia have accused Mr Stampa of the criminal offence of serious contempt of court. The Public Prosecutor’s Office has also accused him of unqualified professional practice. These accusations are based on the fact that Mr. Stampa openly and knowingly disobeyed several binding orders of the Madrid High Court of Justice.

5. On 29 June 2021, the Madrid High Court of Justice issued a judgement, in line with its case law, ruling that as a foreign State, Malaysia had been improperly summoned in arbitrator appointment proceedings. The Court therefore annulled Mr. Stampa’s appointment and all of his procedural actions, and ordered that Malaysia be properly summoned and the purported arbitral proceedings restarted. The annulment of Mr. Stampa’ appointment was later upheld by the Spanish Constitutional Court after a failed constitutional appeal by the Filipino citizens.

6. Following the said annulment of Mr. Stampa’s appointment, the Madrid High Court of Justice repeatedly ordered Mr. Stampa, in writing, to immediately bring an end to the purported arbitration. However, Mr. Stampa was recalcitrant in disobeying the orders of the court and blatantly undermined the rule of law.

7. To fulfil his malicious and unethical agenda, Mr Stampa wilfully ignored the orders of the Madrid High Court of Justice and changed the seat of the purported arbitration from Madrid to Paris at the request of the Filipino citizens in order to evade the oversight of the Spanish courts, which he had undertaken to obey when accepting his initial appointment. Notably, in advance of delivering his purported Final Award against Malaysia, and as evidenced by documents seen by the Court, Mr. Stampa collected more than USD 2.5 million in “fees” from the Filipino citizens.

8. In December 2021, after the unprecedented change of arbitration seat from Spain to France, Malaysia – which has complete and unwavering confidence in the Spanish judicial system – filed a complaint against Mr. Stampa with the Public Prosecutor of Spain on the grounds that, in Malaysia’s view, he had acted in contempt of court by repeatedly disobeying the orders of the Madrid High Court of Justice and continues to forum shop in other jurisdictions.

9. In view of the reported facts – none of which, importantly, are materially disputed by Mr. Stampa himself – the Public Prosecutor of Madrid filed its own complaint against Mr. Stampa for contempt, in addition to the criminal offence of engaging in unqualified professional practice.

10. In short, Mr. Stampa will not be judged by the Spanish criminal court for acting as an arbitrator. He will be judged for having acted in serious contempt of court by disobeying the direct orders of the Madrid High Court of Justice, which are binding on all citizens, regardless of their professional activity. His act has raised several alarming concerns specifically in respect of the exigency to uphold ethical code of conduct, integrity, professionalism, and good practices by arbitrators which is the cornerstone of any legitimate arbitration. This is fundamental to preserve the confidence of any parties who choose arbitration to settle their dispute, failing which, could cause the whole alternative dispute resolution platform to be undermined and under threat.