Liberia's supreme court has ordered a lower court to enforce its 2019 judgment against the Guaranty Trust Bank (GT Bank) to issue Doramart Trade Limited (DTL) a letter of credit (L/C).

In 2019 the lower court ordered GT Bank to issue DTL an import L/C but since that ruling, the bank has so far failed to do so.

L/C issued claim

The supreme court heard that DTL had met all the legal requirements to obtain the L/C from GT Bank, but the bank said it had already issued the L/C and refused to provide another one.

Following the lower court's 2019 ruling, GT Bank filed an action against DTL in the commercial court seeking to recover the value of the L/C the bank claimed to have sent on behalf of the company.

Resolution unclear

Despite the two parties meeting on several occasions to try and resolve the matter out of court, the bank eventually said that the parties should revert to court for judgment in the dispute.

It is not clear whether GT Bank will comply with the supreme court's order.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or Coastline Solutions.