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By Sami Zaptia.
London, 30 April 2016:
Legal cases against the Libyan state increased dramatically in 2015 the Audit Bureau said. There were . . .[restrict]a total of 60,319 local cases and 30 cases abroad for a total of LD 3.5 bn.
The revelation came in the Audit Bureau’s 565-page 2015 Annual Report published earlier this month. The Audit Bureau is Libya’s oversight and monitoring authority for state institutions.
The Audit Bureau said that some Libyans were conspiring with some companies against the Libyan state in making what it considered as illegitimate claims.
It highlighted the case of the Libyan-Brazilian (LB) company contract with the (Libyan) Housing and Infrastructure Board (HIB). It reported that the LB had reclaimed for costs which in the view of the Audit Bureau had already been paid previously.
The Audit Bureau said that the LB had left Libya in on 23/2/11 but had made claims for LD 51 million. Subsequently, it had made an international claim for LD 129 million. The Audit Bureau said that it had refused a request from the HIB to release some funds to the company as part of an amicable settlement due to suspicion of corruption in the contract from the date of signing in 2007.
The report noted that many cases were ruled on by courts against the Libyan state from the first sitting due to a failure of the state to turn up at the court and contest the cases.
This it put to the weakness and disorganization of the Libyan state as well as poorly drafted contracts. [/restrict]
