High Court: Commercial Court judgments, 2004

Arbitration Act 1996, sections 43 and 44, does not give the court power to order ordinary non-party disclosure for an arbitration. Section 44 may support…

In excess of loss reinsurance, the reinsured may consider the existence and terms of its reinsurance when deciding what business to accept. Reinsurance is…

A charterparty time-bar clause must be construed strictly and according to its language. A clause requiring claims to be presented within a specified period…

An exclusion clause in a commercial contract is construed in its contractual context. Words which, read literally, would defeat the contract’s main purpose may…

A Joint Entrant accepted under mutual protection and indemnity rules may be bound by the rules, including an English jurisdiction clause, even if it is not…

Section 67 of the Arbitration Act 1996 concerns challenges to substantive jurisdiction, not ordinary merits determinations concerning the validity of the…

A reinsurance contract is ordinarily made between the original insurer and the reinsurer. References in reinsurance documents to provisions of the underlying…

Where goods are sold for resale and late delivery causes a sub-buyer to suffer loss, the original seller may be liable for a reasonable settlement paid by the…

A contractual reference to a duty to mitigate ordinarily incorporates the familiar common-law standard of reasonableness. The obligation requires reasonable…

Where linked contracts contemplate that a finished product will be made from specified components, that common assumption does not itself impose a contractual…

Joinder of an equitable assignee is ordinarily desirable where the assignee has the real interest in the claim and issues concerning the assignment should bind…

Applications for summary judgment or strike-out may be determined where the pleaded case has no real prospect of success and raises no serious unresolved…

An interlocutory injunction may restrain shipowners from employing vessels inconsistently with existing charter-parties, even where specific performance of the…

In conversion claims, damages ordinarily reflect the market value of the goods when converted, but the court may adopt another measure that provides just…

Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 applies to four-party credit-card transactions. A regulated credit-card agreement provides financial accommodation…

A third party may enforce a contractual indemnity under section 1 of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 where the contract purports to confer a…

Under regulation 32(4) of the Utilities Contracts Regulations 1996, each discrete procurement complaint has its own limitation starting point. The claimant’s…

A witness summons in arbitral proceedings must identify specific documents and must not become a fishing expedition or substitute for disclosure. Relevance…

Summary judgment is appropriate where the opposing claim or defence has no realistic prospect of success and there is no other compelling reason for trial. The…

Where an insurance exclusion extends to loss arising directly or indirectly from specified causes, the causal connection may be more remote than proximate…

In an advisory, non-discretionary investment account, an expert client remains responsible for accepting or rejecting advice and for the resulting investment…

An exclusive English jurisdiction clause should generally be enforced unless strong reasons justify departure. The existence of foreign proceedings, even…

A claim for sue and labour expenses under a marine insurance policy is a distinct cause of action, separate from a claim for the insured vessel’s loss. It must…

Under section 72 of the Arbitration Act 1996, a person alleged to be a party to arbitral proceedings may challenge the arbitration agreement, tribunal…

A contractual arbitration option granted to one party may constitute a binding arbitration agreement once that option is exercised. Where a charterparty gives…

An arbitral tribunal commits a serious irregularity under Arbitration Act 1996, section 68, where it decides a material issue contrary to the parties’ agreed…

Applications under sections 69 and 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 involve distinct judicial inquiries. A section 69 application tests the legal correctness of…

Under article 18 of the Salvage Convention, where salvage operations became necessary or more difficult through fault on both sides, relative responsibility is…

Under a liability insurance policy, the assured’s cause of action requires an insured liability to a third party and a specifically ascertained loss caused by…

Where jurisdiction is discretionary, the claimant must show that England is the natural forum. The court must assess the issues as they actually arise…

Under CPR rule 19.2(2), a person may be added as a party where this is desirable to resolve all matters in dispute or a connected issue. The person need not…

In claims-made liability insurance, the insured must identify a Loss falling within the policy wording. An error in supplying a product is not ordinarily an…

Authority to accept service is defined by the document, claim and claimant identified when the authority is given. A solicitor authorised to accept service for…

A committed letter-of-credit facility must be construed according to its express terms. Where it requires instruments for general corporate purposes, the…

A cross-claim may operate as a transaction set-off where it has a close and inseparable commercial connection with the claim, even if it arises under a…

For service of English proceedings abroad, the method used must be permitted by the law of the state addressed and, where applicable, by the governing service…

A directive regulating insurance supervision does not, without clear language, confer directly enforceable rights on insured persons or Names against the…

Section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 is a long-stop safeguard for the arbitral process. It does not permit correction of errors of fact, law or evidential…

Parties may agree that an arbitrator’s separate reasons are confidential and cannot be used in proceedings concerning the award. That agreement does not…

Where a charterer repudiates a settlement agreement governing carriage and discharge, it cannot recover contractual payment for services or costs incurred…

Where excess professional indemnity policies incorporate the terms of a primary policy, the scope of cover will ordinarily be construed as co-extensive with…

On an appeal on a question of law from an arbitration award, causation requires the court or tribunal to identify whether the breach was the effective or…

Under Civil Procedure Rules 1998, rule 13.3, a default judgment may be set aside only where the defendant shows a real prospect of successfully defending the…

Where claims are brought against defendants within and outside the jurisdiction, the court must assess the dispute in the round. It must identify the…

Where an unqualified person acts as a solicitor in court proceedings, the court has no jurisdiction to make a costs order in that party’s favour. The statutory…

Amendments alleging fraud are governed by the ordinary principles applicable to amendments. Permission should generally be granted where the proposed case has…

A wasted costs order against a legal representative requires improper, unreasonable or negligent conduct which causes another party to incur unnecessary costs…

A monetary arbitration reference ordinarily includes a claim for interest, but an express withdrawal of interest narrows the reference. Reinstatement requires…

In commercial litigation, the general rule remains that the loser pays the winner. A court may depart from that rule only after considering the factors in CPR…

A CHAPS transfer which has been authenticated and credited to a customer’s account ordinarily creates an immediately enforceable debt owed by the receiving…

Commercial parties may incorporate standard terms through clear notice and a course of dealing, even where their contractual arrangements are informal. A…

A claimant has a good arguable case on title to sue where, despite losses being sustained by companies or a foundation, she may be more closely analogous to a…

An arbitral award must finally and completely determine every issue submitted to the tribunal, unless the tribunal is properly proceeding by way of a…

Summary judgment is appropriate where a claim has no realistic prospect of success and no compelling reason requires a trial. The court must avoid a…

For contractual purposes, a guarantee is issued when it is signed, sealed and delivered to the relevant third party in accordance with the commercial…

A negative declaration may be granted where it determines a real dispute and has practical utility. The claim must not be premature, hypothetical or an…

Under section 18 of the Arbitration Act 1996, the court should ordinarily constitute the tribunal chosen by the parties. It may decline to do so only where the…

An anti-suit injunction may be granted where foreign proceedings are unconscionable, oppressive or vexatious and threaten the legitimate interests of…

Pre-action disclosure may be ordered where the parties are likely to litigate, the documents would fall within standard disclosure, and early disclosure is…

An employer operating a discretionary bonus scheme must exercise its discretion rationally and without perversity. The court will assess the decision by…

In a complex contractual transaction, security arrangements must be construed consistently with the primary contracts where their purpose is to secure and…

A contractual option allowing an insured unilaterally to select a substitute governing law can be effective if expressed with sufficient clarity and exercised…

Security for costs is discretionary. A claimant’s residence outside the Brussels, Lugano or Regulation zone does not, by itself, justify an order, because…

A reinsurance contract must be construed as a whole, giving proper weight to provisions requiring cover to operate as per the original policy. A reference to…

Under a contractual expert-determination clause, a reference must be made to the appointed expert, rather than merely to the appointing body or the opposing…

A contractual default mechanism requiring a seller to value assets on termination must be construed so that the parties’ financial position is crystallised at…

Insurance contracts placed on the London market will generally be governed by English law unless strong contrary indications exist. An unexercised option to…

When construing an underwriting criterion in a commercial insurance policy, the court must identify the parties’ bargain and may consider the commercial…

Whether proceedings should remain in the Commercial Court depends on the overriding objective and the structure of the litigation as a whole. The court should…

Under an all-risks marine insurance policy, the insured must prove loss caused by an accident or casualty, but need not identify the precise event. The policy…

Where a commercial contract contains apparently conflicting provisions, the court must identify the meaning mutually intended by the parties from the words…

A negligent valuer is liable only for loss falling within the scope of the duty undertaken. That scope is determined by construing the engagement as a whole in…

In an arbitration, a claimant has no automatic right to make the final oral submission. The tribunal may regulate the order and form of submissions, provided…

On an application to set aside permission to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction, the claimant must show that England is clearly and distinctly the more…

A claims control clause in a reinsurance contract referring to knowledge of a loss which may give rise to a claim may refer to the actual loss of third-party…

A challenge under section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 requires more than criticism of an arbitrator’s reasoning. A failure to deal with a central issue may…

A contractual price-review notice is a condition precedent to the operation of machinery leading to arbitration. The requirement that a party be “reasonably…

A guarantee may be rectified where convincing evidence shows that the written instrument records a shared mistake and identifies the wording the parties…

An agreement is implied from conduct only where it is an obvious or necessary implication. Accounts may evidence an earlier agreement, but cannot themselves…

Under Article 3(3) of the Rome Convention, a choice of foreign law is displaced only where all other elements relevant to the situation are connected with one…

A governmental guarantee is construed as a whole. Clear language is required before an instrument is treated as imposing primary liability or as a first-demand…

An agent’s records concerning business written for its principal belong to the principal, including correspondence identifying producing brokers. An express…

A claim for a negative declaration is assessed by its substance and practical effect, rather than its form. Where it serves a useful and juridically sound…

A general solicitor’s retainer in litigation authorises the solicitor to take the steps necessary to bring the proceedings to an end. That authority continues…

An arbitral tribunal determining a later dispute may need to give effect to an earlier award fixing the contractual rights of parties to that earlier…

A respondent subject to a worldwide freezing injunction must provide the best information reasonably available about assets and transactions within the order.…

An ad hoc arbitration agreement made by two parties to a multi-party contract may validly confer jurisdiction between those parties, even where the contract’s…

A dispute resolution clause must be construed in its contractual and commercial context. Where it refers disputes to a body offering conciliation, mediation…

A contractual variation may be established orally where the parties objectively reached agreement, even if the written contract requires variations to be…

Pre-action disclosure is exceptional. The applicant must first cross each jurisdictional threshold in Black v Sumitomo Corporation, including showing that the…

A notice issued under section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 must generally be obeyed. Confidentiality arising from litigation disclosure, residence…

In negotiations for the sale of ships, the expression “subject details” has a recognised commercial meaning. It ordinarily indicates that no binding agreement…

Under the Henderson v Henderson principle, a later defence is barred only where pursuing it would constitute an abuse of the court’s process. The inquiry is…

For a letter of credit without an express governing-law clause, the presumptive law of the confirming bank’s place of business may be displaced where the…

A challenge to an arbitral tribunal’s substantive jurisdiction under section 67 of the Arbitration Act 1996 is a re-hearing of the jurisdiction issue. The…

In a claim for pure economic loss, the existence of a duty of care depends on the factual relationship. Where the defendant has provided information or…

A framework agreement may create legal relations without imposing enforceable obligations where essential terms, including specification and price, remain…

A contractual renewal clause must be construed according to its language and commercial context. A provision making renewal available indefinitely for as long…

Permission to amend should be granted where the proposed case has a realistic prospect of success, is properly arguable, or there is another compelling reason…

In assessing whether a claim could arguably equal or exceed a statutory demand, the court must use the properly supported figures for the relevant underwriting…

A contractual restriction permitting transfers only to a bank or other financial institution is construed in context. The general words refer to institutions…

Storage cover under an open, facultative/obligatory policy is not limited to the premium period. Where a declaration requests storage cover without a time…

Contractual service of proceedings is valid under Civil Procedure Rules 1998, Part 6.15 where the contract specifies the method of service and the English…

In a claim under a marine insurance policy, a statement of value is a misrepresentation only where it is made in bad faith. The absence of reasonable grounds…