The Court of Appeal will have to weigh in on a dispute between a property developer and internationally-renowned Scottish artist Peter Doig over ownership of a private road in a development off Fond Pois Doux Road in Paramin.
In August last year, High Court Judge Carol Gobin dismissed a lawsuit brought by Doig and Alfonso Roper, the administrator of the estate of Joseph Roper who owned a neighbouring plot in the development, against Paul Duval.
Doig appealed the decision with the parties being instructed to agree on dates after October for the hearing of the appeal.
According to the evidence in the case, the road, constructed in 2000, lies between two parcels of land which Doig purchased in 2002 and 2015 from two third parties who previously acquired the plots from Duval.
The road leads to the ten-acre plot owned by Roper.
In the lawsuit, Doig and Roper called on Justice Gobin to consider the deeds, survey plans, and cadastral sheets to determine whether the road was conveyed to Doig under Section 16 of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act (CLPA) and the common law.
In rejecting the case, Justice Gobin stated that the legislation cited by Doig deals with a right of way, an easement or a quasi-easement.
“He is claiming ownership. His reliance on Section 16 of the CLPA is misplaced and his claim in this regard is misconceived,” Justice Gobin said.
Justice Gobin noted that Duval, who is the managing director of Mahogany Ridge Bed and Breakfast, reduced the size of one of the parcels before he sold it to a third party to accommodate the road. She also noted that he granted access to the parcel through existing roads.
“He made no such grant in respect of the private road. He excluded it. This was sufficient to distinguish the owner’s intention in relation to the private road. There was no need for an express reservation by deed,” Justice Gobin said.
She also expressed her overall view of Doig’s property dispute.
“At the end of this, what is left of Mr Doig’s case is his contention that Mr Duval has no need for the private road he constructed deliberately and at his own expense because he has no lands on either side of it, and it leads only to Mr Roper’s property. Mr Roper has no intention of selling to Mr Duval,” she said.
“In those circumstances, Mr Doig’s belief is that Mr Duval has lost his strip of road and that he has somehow become the owner of it. His claim has no foundation in law and is in my view absurd,” she added.
The remaining aspects of Doig’s case will be considered by Justice Gobin after the appeal is heard and determined.
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Doig lived in Trinidad briefly with his family before they migrated to Canada. He returned to Trinidad to reside in 2002.
Several of his paintings have fetched significant sums at auction including his 1991 canvas, “Rosedale”, which was sold for US$28.8 million and “Swamped”, which was sold for US$25.9 million and US$39 million in 2015 and 2021.
Doig was represented by John Heath, SC, Christophe Rodriguez, Niala Narine, and Kimaada Ottley. Duval was represented by Rishi Dass, SC, and Marguerita Hospedales.