Emmerson (AIM:EML), the AIM-listed company pursuing arbitration against Morocco over the loss of its Sidi Moussa potash project, said the Tribunal has rejected Morocco's request to bifurcate the case.
Morocco applied in May to have certain jurisdictional objections addressed in a separate preliminary phase, ahead of any assessment of the claimants' case on its merits.
The claimants opposed the move, and the Tribunal heard oral submissions from both sides on 19 June before issuing its decision on 17 July.
With bifurcation rejected, the Tribunal will now weigh Morocco's jurisdictional objections alongside the substantive merits in a single combined process.
The claimants are seeking $1.215bn, net of local taxes and including interest, over alleged breaches of the UK-Morocco bilateral investment treaty, including expropriation of the project and failure to provide fair and equitable treatment.
The timing of the next procedural steps, including the combined hearing, has yet to be confirmed.
Emmerson said it will update the market once that timeline is set.
News Intelligence what this means for the company
Morocco's attempt to split the arbitration case into two phases—first jurisdictional objections, then merits—has been rejected by the tribunal. The case will now proceed as a single combined hearing on both Morocco's jurisdictional challenges and Emmerson's $1.215bn claim for expropriation and breach of the UK-Morocco investment treaty. This removes a potential delay tactic but leaves the timeline for the substantive hearing still unconfirmed.
Rejection of bifurcation eliminates one procedural hurdle and keeps the case on a single track, but does not accelerate the timeline—the tribunal has not yet set hearing dates. The outcome remains a binary catalyst: either a final award or partial awards in Emmerson's favor, or dismissal of the claim on jurisdictional or substantive grounds.
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