Does a person domiciled in a Recast Brussels Regulation state have, by virtue of Article 4(1), a positive right to be sued only where they are domiciled and not to be sued in a non-Regulation country?
If so, is such a person entitled to have that right protected by an anti-suit injunction to restrain foreign proceedings against them?
The Court of Appeal has today referred these fundamental yet novel questions of law to the CJEU in Luxembourg.
Those involved in cross-border litigation will immediately recognise the importance that the CJEU’s pronouncement on these issues will have on all international disputes of a civil or commercial nature.
This issues will continue to be of ongoing significance even upon the UK leaving the EU, as the currently envisaged Withdrawal Agreement provides that the Recast Brussels Regulation will continue to apply for at least the post-Brexit transition period.
Jonathan Cohen QC and Marc Delehanty of Littleton Chambers, instructed by Grosvenor Law, represent Ms Mandy Gray, the applicant for the anti-suit injunction, who wishes to restrain her former boyfriend from continuing a claim for division of property which he has brought in the Courts of New Zealand.
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