Dispute Resolution 2026 Comparisons

The main dispute resolution mechanisms utilised in Grenada to resolve commercial disputes are mediation (pre- and post-litigation), litigation (including Judicial Settlement Conferences introduced for the first time by Part 38A of the Civil Procedure Rules (Revised Edition) 2023 (CPR 2023)); and arbitration. Negotiation and expert determination are also used privately by parties in dispute.

While litigation remains the dominant choice of dispute resolution method that is utilised, parties regularly engage in mediation either prior to initiating litigation or subsequent to litigation, as mediation is strongly encouraged by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court; parties may be penalised in costs for failing to mediate.

Both mediation and litigation are used for resolution of a wide cross-section of disputes, including family (ancillary relief and custody matters), property disputes, contractual disputes, construction, employment and commercial disputes. However, litigation remains the principal method of addressing high-value commercial and property disputes, as well as administrative and public law disputes.

Arbitration is not used as frequently for dispute resolution as mediation or litigation, though its use in employment and construction disputes has increased. Investment disputes between foreign investors and the government generally proceed under arbitration.

Grenada has an established history of attending mediation, and has also consistently had the highest or second highest number of claims being filed in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court system.

The current trend appears to be the increased utilisation of Judicial Settlement Conferences, which is a form of mediation/litigation hybrid, in which a judge or judicial officer presides over a settlement conference between the parties, with the goal of having the dispute settled without the need to proceed to a final determinative hearing or trial.

The Limitation of Actions Act, Cap 173 of the 2010 Continuous Revised Laws of Grenada governs a wide range of limitation periods within which claims can be brought, including the following.

• Recovery of land – 12 years; for the Crown/State, 60 years.
• Mortgagor’s right to redeem – 12 years.
• Mortgagee’s right to enter or sue – 12 years from last principal/interest payment.
• Money charged on land, mortgages, judgments, and legacies – 12 years.
• Arrears of rent/interest – six years.
• Specialty (deeds, bonds, recognisances, and covenants) – 20 years.
• Recovery of personal estate of intestate – 20 years.
• Trespass to the person and malicious prosecution – four years.
• Slander or libel – four years.
• Other trespass and simple-contract debts (not on specialty) – six years.
• Account/merchant accounts – six years.

Grenada is one of nine member states/territories of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC), constituted by the West Indies Associated States Supreme Court Order 1967. The court structure in Grenada is as follows.

• Magistrates’ Courts (court of summary jurisdiction) – handle minor civil and criminal matters, small claims and landlord–tenant disputes within statutory monetary limits; ie, less than XCD10,000.
• High Court of Justice (resident judges in St George’s) – unlimited original civil jurisdiction; styled as “the Supreme Court of Grenada and the West Indies Associated States”.
• Court of Appeal (itinerant; sits in each member state) – hears civil and criminal appeals; comprises the Chief Justice and Justices of Appeal.
• Privy Council (final court) – Grenada has not adopted the Caribbean Court of Justice as its final appellate court.

For certain types of claims, namely for claims for a specified sum of money, motor vehicle accidents and personal injury claims, there are requirements that pre-action protocol letters are issued before the claim can be initiated before the court. If a party fails to comply with the pre-action protocol requirements, an adverse costs order may be made against the party that has failed to comply.

The stages of litigation are generally as follows.

• Filing of the Claim Form and Statement of Claim.
• Service within jurisdiction or out of jurisdiction with permission.
• Acknowledgment of Service; normally within 14 days of service.
• Defence; usually within 28 days of service of the Claim Form.
• Case Management Conference where the court actively manages the case, and sets timetables for the progression of the claim, including consideration of mediation.
• Mediation (if the parties agree to attend mediation after the initiation of the claim).
• Disclosure and inspection.
• Witness statements.
• Pre-trial review and possibly a Judicial Settlement Conference (JSC).
• Trial (if the JSC fails).
• Judgment and Assessment of Damages.
• Appeal.
• Enforcement.

The typical duration of a matter from filing the claim to trial is approximately three years, with a further two-year period if the final judgment is appealed.

Certain court proceedings are heard in open court, and, accordingly, the public is able to view the proceedings. These include administrative/public law proceedings, mortgage proceedings, guardianship proceedings, and any proceedings which are initiated pursuant to legislation.

Other categories of disputes, such as contract, tort, and applications are heard in chambers and to that extent they are considered private or confidential.

Interim relief is often sought by litigants, and the Eastern Caribbean Civil Procedure Rules 2023 provide a vast array of relief that is available. These include interim injunctions, freezing orders, search orders, orders for inspection, custody, preservation and sale of property, orders to deliver up goods, interim payments, and orders to provide information.

Key types of final relief that are available to a litigant in commercial litigation are damages (general, special, aggravated, and exemplary in limited categories), recovery of debt, declarations, final injunctions, specific performance, rescission, restitution, account of profits, possession of land, orders for sale, and specific delivery of goods.

In Grenada, damages are assessed on common-law principles, the aim of which is to put the claimant in the position they would have been in had the wrong not occurred or to restore the claimant to the pre-injury position. In doing so, the court applies the rules in relation to remoteness, mitigation, and causation.

While arbitration is widely acknowledged and included into contractual documents in Grenada, it is not as regularly used for dispute resolution as mediation and litigation. Arbitration is used more in specific industry areas such as employment, construction and investment disputes.

Arbitration is unavailable in Grenada for matters that are non-arbitrable as a matter of public policy. This includes matrimonial matters, criminal proceedings, insolvency-related matters, certain statutory rights, defamation, and certain tax or Crown matters.

There are certain advantages to the use of arbitration, chief among them being speed and confidentiality as compared with the litigation process. There is also the ability to choose your tribunal as well as being able to ensure that there is an expert as the arbitrator or on the panel of arbitrators.

The main perceived disadvantage to arbitration is that the Arbitration Act is a bit dated and Grenada does not have any dedicated arbitrators or an arbitration institution, and there are limited rights of appeal in an arbitration if a party is aggrieved.

There is no dedicated arbitral institution in Grenada. Parties typically resort to ad hoc arbitration governed by the Arbitration Act and under specific legislation, such as the Employment Act. ICSID is the forum of choice for investment treaty arbitrations.

The typical length of arbitration proceedings in Grenada is 6–12 months.

The principal laws regulating arbitration in general in Grenada are the Arbitration Act and the Civil Procedure Rules 2023. The Arbitration Act is modelled closely from the English Arbitration Act 1950, and accordingly the courts draw on English jurisprudence in the analysis of this Act. Grenada is a contracting state to the ICSID Convention, and the state has been a respondent in ICSID arbitration proceedings.

The Arbitration Act requires that the accrual of a cause of action in respect of every matter required by an agreement to be referred to arbitration must be determined in accordance with the statutes of limitation. Arbitration is deemed to commence on service of a valid notice requiring appointment of an arbitrator. Service may be effected by personal delivery, by leaving it at the usual or last known place of abode in Grenada, by registered post, or as provided in the agreement pursuant to which the arbitration proceedings are commenced.

The key powers are as follows.

• Stay of proceedings – where a party to an arbitration agreement commences court proceedings in respect of a matter agreed to be referred, any other party may, before delivering any pleading or taking any other step in the proceedings, apply for a stay. The court may grant a stay if satisfied (i) that the applicant is and remains ready and willing to do everything necessary for the proper conduct of the arbitration, and (ii) that there is no sufficient reason why the matter should not be referred.
• Default appointment of arbitrators – where the parties or arbitrators fail to appoint a single arbitrator, umpire, or third arbitrator within seven clear days after written notice, the court may, on the application of the noticing party, appoint. The appointee has the same powers as one appointed by consent.
• Replacement appointments – where an arbitrator or umpire has been removed by court order, the court may appoint a replacement to act in the same capacity, with all the original powers.
• Umpire as sole arbitrator – the court may order that an umpire enter on the reference in place of the arbitrators as if a sole arbitrator.

The court may intervene in arbitration in the following circumstances.

• The court may remove and replace an arbitrator or umpire who fails to use all reasonable dispatch in entering on and proceeding with a reference and making an award. A removed arbitrator is not entitled to remuneration.
• Interpleader matters between agreement parties may be directed to be determined under the agreement.
• The arbitrator or umpire may, and shall if directed by the court, state a special case for the determination of the court on any question of law arising in the reference, or on the whole or part of an award. An appeal lies from a court determination of a stated case to the Court of Appeal, with leave required for points of law (Section 31(3) of the Arbitration Act).
• In all cases where there has been a reference to arbitration, the court may, by order, remit any or every matter contained in the reference for reconsideration by the arbitrator or umpire. Where remitted, the award must (unless the court directs otherwise) be made within three months from the date of the order.
• Where an arbitrator or umpire has misconducted themselves or the proceedings, the court has power to order removal, having given an opportunity to show cause if it thinks fit.
• The court may set aside an award where an arbitrator or umpire has misconducted themselves or the proceedings, or where the arbitration or award has been improperly procured.
• On an application to set aside an award, the court may order that money payable under the award be paid into court or otherwise secured.

The arbitrators or umpire have/has the same power as the court to order specific performance, except specific performance of a contract relating to land or any interest in land. This is the principal substantive carve-out and reflects the doctrine that real-property remedies are reserved to the courts. The tribunal may make an interim award if it thinks fit.

A sum directed to be paid carries interest from the date of the award at the same rate as a judgment debt, unless the award provides otherwise.

Mediation is also available as a formal ADR method other than litigation and arbitration. Unlike arbitration, there is a dedicated Mediation Office and a roster of trained mediators available in order to have mediation conducted in Grenada.

While the court actively encourages that parties engage in mediation, and may make an adverse costs order if one party has declined to attend mediation, there is no general requirement to engage in ADR or mediation. Parties are required to pay the requisite mediation fee in order to have mediation held, and to submit the requisite forms and documents in support of their case for mediation.

Mediation does not prevent a party from pursuing litigation or arbitration if the mediation is not determinative of the dispute. However, once a settlement agreement has been executed, it is enforceable as a contract and may be embodied in a consent order. Engaging in mediation does not create issue estoppel against a party as to the underlying dispute.

ADR typically takes place pre-action or shortly after the case management conference (mediation), or before pre-trial review (Judicial Settlement Conference). It is common for parties to attempt mediation before significant trial preparation costs are incurred.

Engaging in ADR does not stop limitation periods from running.

Both mediation and Judicial Settlement Conference are confidential. To the extent that arbitration proceedings are not raised before the court, arbitration is also confidential.

Mediation costs are usually borne equally unless parties agree otherwise.

The ECSC has actively promoted pre- and post-litigation Court-Connected Mediation since 2003. The courts encourage parties to have matters settled at mediation and the introduction of JSCs in CPR 2023 reflect the Court’s continuing commitment.

Legal practitioner fees are governed by the Legal Profession Act and Rules, and Grenada Bar Association scale fees for certain practice areas. Hourly rates, fixed fees and retainers are common place and should be expected.

There is no statutory regime for third-party funding in Grenada and litigation funding is rare in Grenadian practice.

Strict “no-win, no-fee” contingency arrangements are problematic as they are likely to offend champerty principles. Conditional fee arrangements (success fees) may be permitted where they do not amount to maintenance. Practitioners are subject to the Legal Profession Act in respect of ethics and fee arrangements.

“After the event” insurance is uncommon in Grenada.

In practice, dispute resolution costs, in particular mediation costs, are not recovered from the other side, and are subject to agreement between the parties.

The general rule is that the unsuccessful party pays the successful party’s costs. The factors which will be taken into consideration in assessing costs are care and economy of preparation, conduct of the parties, novelty or complexity of the matter, and time reasonably spent.

The key types of interim relief that are available from the courts are interim injunctions, freezing orders, search orders, orders for inspection, custody, preservation and sale of property, orders to deliver up goods, interim payments, and orders to provide information.

The court may grant interim relief in support of arbitration or ADR, including injunctions to prevent the wastage or dissipation of an asset.

While applications for interim relief are generally made at the commencement of an action, they can be made at any time during proceedings.

A party is able to apply for security for costs, in circumstances where it is just to do so and the claimant is ordinarily resident out of jurisdiction or is an external company, or has taken steps to put assets beyond reach, or is a nominal/assignee/funded claimant. Failure to provide security may result in a stay of the claim and ultimately strike-out of the claim.

Parties are able to apply for interim injunctions upon the American Cyanamid principles, generally where:

• there is a serious question to be tried;
• damages will be an inadequate remedy; and
• the balance of convenience favours the injunction.

A party is able to apply for summary judgment before a trial where the claimant has no real prospect of succeeding in, or the defendant has no real prospect of successfully defending, a claim.

The key mechanism to bringing a class action in Grenada is pursuant to Part 21 of the Civil Procedure Rules 2023, which provides that where five or more persons have the same or similar interest, the court may appoint a body or one or more of the similarly interested persons to be a representative claimant or defendant.

In order to bring or participate in a class action, there must be sufficient and similar interest in the proceedings. The test is whether the persons have a “common interest and a common grievance” and that the relief sought is “in its nature beneficial to all whom the claimant proposes to represent.”

No information has been provided concerning the types of relief available in class actions in this jurisdiction.

Class arbitration is rare in Grenada, and generally tends to be with respect to employment-related arbitration, and pursuant to the Employment Act and Labour Relations Act, the representative claimant can show that all class members are bound by the same arbitration provisions, like under a trade union collective agreement.

Mass claims remain rare in Grenada, with the principal area of incremental development being pension litigation, where individual constitutional challenges have produced class-wide effects on entitlements for public officers. Another potential area of class action/mass claims is environmental claims. Though the claims which have been brought in Grenada thus far are rooted in administrative/constitutional law, there is the potential for class-action suits in these areas to develop based on the favourable decisions which have been issued. There is also the potential for consumer-related class actions due to the relatively recent introduction of the Consumer Protection Act.

There is a duty of disclosure in litigation proceedings, which is governed by Part 28 of the Civil Procedure Rules 2023. Standard disclosure requires reasonable and proportionate search for and disclosure of all documents which are directly relevant to the matters in question. Directions for standard disclosure are generally given at the case management conference of a case. Specific disclosure may be ordered where the court considers it necessary to dispose of the claim fairly or save costs. A party may apply for specific disclosure at a case management conference.

Disclosure may be withheld on the basis of privilege, which may fall into the categories of:

• legal privilege (ie, communications between attorney and client);
• documents or communications prepared for purposes of contemplated litigation;
• “without prejudice” communications in the course of negotiation to settle a dispute; and
• public-interest immunity.

Privilege may be waived expressly by the party who may assert privilege over it. Documents which are inadvertently disclosed or inspected may only be used with the permission of the court or the agreement of the disclosing party.

Based on the type or nature of the document or information to be disclosed (eg, information about minors, medical, banking or tax information), the court may order limited disclosure, redactions, or confidentiality rings, though confidentiality alone is not a basis on which to withhold evidence from disclosure.

Evidence in chief is given either by way of affidavit or written witness statements, and witnesses are subject to oral cross-examination. Witnesses may also orally amplify their evidence at a hearing or trial. While the Civil Procedure Rules provide mechanisms for the deposition of witnesses, this mechanism is not utilised in practice in Grenada.

Expert evidence is allowed in Grenada, with the permission of and appointment by the court. Expert evidence must be restricted to what is reasonably required to resolve the proceedings justly, with an overriding duty to the court to impartially help on matters of the expert’s expertise.

Foreign judgments out of Commonwealth jurisdictions may be registered within Grenada’s Civil Judgment Registry upon an application for registration of the judgment being made and granted by Order of the Court, pursuant to Part 74 of the Civil Procedure Rules 2023.

Other foreign judgments require fresh proceedings to be initiated before the court in Grenada in which the foreign judgment is sued upon as an ordinary common law debt.

Domestic awards are enforceable as a judgment with leave of the court, which may be made without notice, but supported by affidavit evidence.

Foreign arbitral awards must be made by way of a Fixed Date Claim Form, as a common law action on the award.

Registration of a foreign judgment typically takes one to three months if uncontested. Contested set-aside applications can extend the time for registration to up to 12 months. Common-law actions for the recognition of a foreign judgment take longer, and may take approximately 12–18 months for a contested debt action. Enforcement steps may take between six to nine months.

Foreign judgments may be resisted on grounds including lack of jurisdiction of the foreign court, fraud, breach of natural justice, public policy, or that the judgment is not final and conclusive.

Foreign arbitral awards may be resisted on the additional grounds set out in the Arbitration Act, including:

• invalidity of the arbitration agreement;
• breach of due process;
• tribunal exceeded its mandate;
• improper composition;
• award set aside in the seat; and
• public policy.

The use of AI is not yet regulated in dispute resolution in Grenada. There are certain jurisdictions within the Caribbean in which guidelines have been implemented for the use of AI before the court, but this has not yet taken place in Grenada.

There has not yet been any data released on the impact of AI on dispute resolution in Grenada, though anecdotal information suggests that practitioners are utilising AI to assist in the research and analysis of matters.

While it is expected that the courts will utilise AI as a means of improving efficiency, the manner in which this will be done has not yet materialised. The authors’ prediction is that AI will assist parties to streamline and expedite dispute resolution. It is expected that, as with the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and the Bahamas, there will soon be formal AI regulation introduced, ethical guidelines, and judicial training.