High Court: Commercial Court judgments, 2007

A court with substantive jurisdiction over a defendant may grant interim protective relief, including a worldwide freezing order or receivership, even where…

For interim injunctive relief, the claimant need only show a serious issue to be tried. Where confidential information has arguably been misused to obtain an…

Contractual shipment provisions must be construed by reference to their particular wording and factual matrix. A reference to a vessel presenting during a…

A bank’s acknowledgment of receipt of a customer’s unusual instructions does not, without contractual intention, vary the existing banking contract or create a…

When construing a later contract, an earlier contract may form part of the surrounding circumstances, particularly where the later agreement substantially…

On a challenge under section 67 of the Arbitration Act 1996, the court conducts a rehearing and decides whether the tribunal was correct on jurisdiction.…

Insurance and reinsurance policies must be construed in their contractual and commercial context, using admissible background and business common sense. An…

A contractual default clause requiring the defaulter to make good the innocent party’s loss, subject to a specified upper limit, is not necessarily a…

A notice of readiness tendered at an outer anchorage is invalid where the charterparty permits tender there only if the vessel is compelled to wait because the…

A notification of circumstances under a professional indemnity policy must be construed objectively in its documentary and commercial context. A notice…

The court may exceptionally restrain a party from continuing an international arbitration where the supervisory court has determined that the tribunal lacks…

An appeal clause in institutional arbitration rules may confer a broad rehearing-based right of appeal, even where the rule governing lapse of a claim does not…

At the pleading stage, causation and loss in deceit or contract should not ordinarily be resolved summarily where they depend on the nature of a continuing…

Under section 9 of the Arbitration Act 1996, proceedings concerning a matter within an arbitration agreement must be stayed unless the agreement is null and…

On a summary judgment application, a defendant need only show a realistic prospect of establishing its defence. Documents submitted to demonstrate project…

An English court will ordinarily enforce an exclusive jurisdiction agreement by restraining proceedings brought in another forum, unless the party suing abroad…

An extension to a property-damage policy must be construed consistently with the policy read as a whole. Cover for loss, destruction or damage caused by…

A demurrage time-bar clause must be construed by its ordinary and natural meaning, but it must also be applied carefully and strictly where its wording is…

Where an anti-suit, jurisdiction or arbitration clause is breached, the innocent party may recover legal costs reasonably incurred in dealing with the…

In a collision involving a dredger and an inward-bound vessel, liability depends on the vessel’s navigation in the available channel and on whether any breach…

A contractual lien on sub-freights operates by intercepting the freight before payment to the charterer or its agent. Once payment has occurred, the lien…

On a section 69 appeal, a respondent seeking to uphold an arbitral award on grounds not expressed, or not fully expressed, in the award must rely on a point of…

A material representation about an insurer’s current underwriting policy is a statement of fact. It may be actionable even where made in good faith. In a…

A contractual obligation to screen goods over a specified screen requires the stipulated screening process, but does not necessarily require the seller to…

Under the Judgments Regulation, recognition of a foreign judgment cannot be refused merely because an appeal is pending, or because a later event may affect…

On an application to vary a freezing injunction supporting arbitration, the court must assess the claimant’s best arguable case, including interest and costs.…

A claimant cannot use an amendment to introduce a new cause of action, or a new legal basis for service out of the jurisdiction, where the original claim and…

A consent order may constitute an exclusive jurisdiction agreement when construed in its commercial and procedural context, even if it does not expressly use…

Under a documentary or standby letter of credit, a condition requiring presentation of specified documents is not disregarded under article 13(c) of the UCP…

A public liability policy is construed as a whole and in its commercial context. Wording covering liability for damages relating to bodily injury, property…

Where a seller makes an unqualified promise to supply non-specific goods, the seller ordinarily bears the risk that its contemplated supplier will fail to…

Under a claims-made professional indemnity policy, a clause extending cover to later claims arising from notified circumstances is triggered only by notice…

A contractual warranty that a vessel is in every way fit to carry specified cargoes includes legal and documentary fitness, not merely physical condition.…

An English court will ordinarily restrain proceedings brought in a foreign court in breach of an arbitration agreement unless the party seeking to proceed…

An English court cannot determine the continued efficacy or application of an agreement containing a wide arbitration clause where that issue falls within the…

On an application for third-party disclosure, the general costs rule is that the person against whom the order is sought receives the costs of the application…

Third-party disclosure under Civil Procedure Rules 1998 Part 31.17 requires evidence that the specified documents or classes are likely to exist, are likely to…

Commission provisions in a commercial agreement are construed as a coherent whole. Separate entitlements are not cumulative unless the language makes that…

The illegality defence requires a reliance test. A claim is barred where it is founded on, arises from, or necessarily depends upon the claimant’s illegal…

A tribunal commits a serious irregularity under section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 if it decides an essential issue which the parties were not given a fair…

In deciding whether to grant interim injunctive relief, the court must assess the adequacy of damages, the balance of convenience and, where appropriate…

Representative proceedings are available where the claimant and represented parties have the same interest. A judgment binds those represented even though they…

A collateral contract requiring insurers to indemnify a funder where they avoid, repudiate or deny liability under an insurance certificate may operate broadly…

Costs should be assessed in a manner proportionate to the issues. Where the sums claimed are substantial and the costs schedules involve numerous parties, fee…

The power to consolidate proceedings or order claims to be tried together is discretionary. It must be exercised to further the overriding objective, including…

An arbitration agreement governed by English law is construed separately from the underlying contract. A wide clause referring disputes arising out of or…

The privilege against self-incrimination may be claimed in civil proceedings where disclosure creates a reasonable, rather than fanciful, risk of prosecution…

A contractual incentive plan is enforceable where its essential terms are sufficiently certain, even though the parties contemplate a later detailed document.…

A freezing order will be granted only where there is a real risk that a judgment will go unsatisfied and it is just and convenient to grant relief. Delay in…

A contractual claim for additional costs cannot be established merely by comparing the total cost of the completed works with the hypothetical cost of the…

A contract for the sale of distressed debt may be concluded orally even though important machinery, including settlement arrangements, documentation, transfer…

For the purposes of Article 27 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 44/2001, two legally distinct entities may be treated as the same parties where, in relation to…

An arbitration agreement is legally distinct from the agreement of which it forms part. Termination, invalidity or ineffectiveness of the underlying agreement…

Where an arbitration has its seat in England, the parties submit it to the supervisory jurisdiction of the English courts and to the mandatory provisions of…

Under section 24 of the Arbitration Act 1996, apparent bias is assessed objectively. The question is whether the circumstances would lead a fair-minded and…

Under Schedule 4 to the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982, the special jurisdiction for tort claims is confined by the requirement to identify the…

A claimant deprived of the use of aircraft may recover user damages for the relevant period. The assessment should reflect the value of the use lost and all…

A voluntary pharmaceutical pricing scheme may be contractual and binding once a manufacturer has entered it. Its provisions must be construed according to the…

Under a Contractors All Risks policy, a defect in contract works does not itself constitute loss or physical damage. Cover for defective workmanship requires…

Summary judgment may be granted in a claim involving fraud or dishonesty where the evidence establishes that the defendant has no real prospect of successfully…

A breach of an arbitration agreement is repudiatory only where the breaching party’s conduct clearly and unequivocally shows an intention no longer to be…

A claimant seeking judgment at an undefended trial must identify matters which may assist the absent defendant, and the court must scrutinise and test the…

A charterparty may name a loading or discharging port and also contain a safe port warranty. There is no inherent inconsistency between those terms. The named…

A representation made to induce a transaction is ordinarily continuing until acted upon. If the maker later learns that it was false, or that circumstances…

Contractual meaning is determined objectively from the language read in its commercial and factual context. Pre-contract negotiations and draft agreements…

An applicant seeking a freezing order must show a good arguable case, a higher threshold than the serious issue to be tried required for permission to amend…

Smoking history in a compensation claim must be assessed from the evidence as a whole. The court should avoid concentrating either on the claimant’s evidence…

Deadfreight is payable only where the charterer fails contractually to supply a full cargo. A formal tender of the contractual quantity retains legal…

An exclusive English jurisdiction clause does not ordinarily prevent a foreign insolvency representative from seeking relief under the insolvency law of the…

After expiry of a limitation period, a party may be substituted or added only within the statutory framework of Limitation Act 1980, section 35, and the…

A demand under an autonomous advance payment guarantee is fraudulent only if the beneficiary, when making it, consciously knows that the amount claimed is…

For the purposes of section 145(4A) of the Road Traffic Act 1988, a person is “carried in or upon a vehicle” when being transported or moved from one place to…

For security for costs, a claimant remains a claimant where its positive claim is pursued to reduce or extinguish an existing judgment debt, even if the…

In a multi-bank workout, ordinary banking practice did not create a legal duty to disclose every material fact, nor did silence ordinarily represent that no…

For jurisdiction under the Brussels jurisdiction regime, a company may be domiciled in more than one place because its statutory seat, central administration…

A contractual exclusion clause must leave a real remedy for serious failure to provide a basic contracted service. It may be reasonable to exclude loss of…

For jurisdictional domicile, an individual may be resident in more than one place, but residence requires a settled or usual place of abode with sufficient…

An agent must maintain and provide records sufficient to enable the principal to ascertain the true state of the account and monies received on the principal’s…

A bill of lading may incorporate the Hague-Visby Rules contractually where the relevant voyage is one for which those Rules are compulsorily applicable at the…

A follow-settlements clause does not extend reinsurance beyond the risks and period defined by the reinsurance contract. The reinsurer remains entitled to…

An insurance policy is construed by reading the relevant words in the context of the clause, the policy as a whole and the surrounding factual matrix. The…

A party’s failure to pay a money order does not, without more, justify debarring it from being heard. The court must consider whether the default is…

Under a credit indemnity policy linked to an ISDA agreement, a bankruptcy trigger did not require a prior payment default. The natural meaning of the policy…

For non-delivery of shares where there is an available market, damages are prima facie measured by the market price at the time delivery ought to have…

A condition precedent requiring immediate notification of an occurrence does not automatically discharge an insurer from liability for the particular claim…

A statement of facts prepared by a port agent and confirmed by the master and port authority is not final and binding unless the charterparty clearly gives it…

A carrier’s contractual general lien cannot override the CMR Convention. Article 13.2 provides a self-contained right to retain goods for the charges shown on…

A claimant abuses the court’s process by issuing a claim form solely to protect a possible limitation position when it cannot identify the essential…

Where contractual terms infringe the prohibition on abuse of a dominant position, they are void and the court applies the ordinary doctrine of severance to…

The court has jurisdiction under CPR 25.12 to order security for costs against a holder of a foreign arbitral award who obtained an enforcement order and is…

A final injunction under Supreme Court Act 1981 section 37 requires an underlying legal or equitable right, or conduct that is vexatious, oppressive or…

A running account created after an earlier cash-call arrangement is a distinct contractual arrangement. Earlier dealings do not establish an express or implied…

For limitation purposes, an acknowledgment must recognise the debtor’s indebtedness and legal liability to pay the claim. A document produced as a…

An expert determination is governed by the parties’ contract and the expert’s mandate. A material departure from the instructions will prevent the…

On an application for further security for costs, the court should adopt a broad-brush assessment of the costs attributable to an independently valuable…

Whether a charterparty has been concluded is determined objectively from the parties’ communications and surrounding circumstances. An erroneous name does not…

An insurance condition requiring premises to be attended or protected by a working alarm is construed in its contractual context. A reference to theft…

A cheque given to replace gambling-session cheques is not post-dated merely because it was initially undated and later dated on or after the date of issue. An…

Splitting a trial is justified only where it serves the interests of justice and produces genuine procedural or economic benefits. Issues should remain…

An anti-suit injunction may be granted where foreign proceedings amount to a collateral attack on a binding English arbitration award and are oppressive…

A settlement agreement may validly restrict a party from repeating allegations of dishonesty, while preserving the right to make factual statements and…

An obligation to use reasonable endeavours is generally less stringent than an obligation to use best endeavours. However, where the contract expressly…

A state may waive immunity by a valid written agreement submitting disputes to the English courts and consenting to enforcement against its assets. The…

An arbitration clause referring disputes relating to delivery is construed according to the natural and ordinary meaning of its language, read in the…

An arbitral tribunal’s defective appointment process does not, without more, establish either lack of jurisdiction or serious irregularity causing substantial…

An anti-suit injunction is granted only where the ends of justice require it. The court exercises the jurisdiction cautiously because an order indirectly…

Summary judgment may determine a pure contractual construction issue where the court reaches a clear view and evidence cannot realistically produce a different…

An excess reinsurance policy covering physical loss or damage under premises and transit clauses does not cover monetary defalcations from bank accounts caused…

An agreement requiring parties to act in good faith and reasonably to agree financial arrangements is enforceable where it provides an objective standard and…

An all-risks insurance policy ordinarily requires the loss to be fortuitous, but fortuity is distinct from foreseeability. Damage may be fortuitous where it…

The slip rule cannot correct an error of substance or be used to alter a final judgment on the merits. Under CPR 3.1(7), the power to vary or revoke an order…

A claim to privilege against self-incrimination may be waived by making extensive asset disclosure without claiming the privilege. It cannot later be imposed…

Where visibility is intermittently reduced by rain, the restricted-visibility regime does not apply automatically. The court must assess the conditions overall…

For jurisdiction under Article 6(1) of the Judgments Regulation, claims must be assessed objectively as at their institution. The question is whether they are…

On a without-notice application, the duty of disclosure extends to material facts relevant to the court’s assessment and weighing of the application. It does…

Where proceedings are brought in breach of an arbitration or jurisdiction agreement, legal costs reasonably caused by that breach should normally be awarded on…

Interlocutory disclosure is ordered only where the documents are necessary for the fair disposal of the application. The court should exercise that power…

Section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 provides a narrowly confined jurisdiction to intervene in arbitral awards. An award is obtained by fraud where a party…