High Court: Commercial Court judgments, 2025

Applications to adjourn a trial on medical grounds require sufficiently specific and reasoned medical evidence. The evidence should address the condition, the…

Strike out and summary judgment are exceptional remedies. A claim should proceed where pleaded contractual interpretation, loss, causation or assignment issues…

For the purposes of CPR Part 36, the start of a trial is ordinarily the first day on which the parties are required to attend court and the trial actually…

Summary judgment may be granted where the defence has no real prospect of success and no other compelling reason for trial. The court need not accept factual…

On a challenge under section 67 of the Arbitration Act 1996, the court determines jurisdiction afresh. An arbitral award has no automatic legal or evidential…

Contempt for breach of a disclosure order requires proof beyond reasonable doubt that the respondent knew the order, breached it deliberately, and knew the…

A deliberate decision to leave proceedings dormant may constitute abuse of process. The court must assess the claimant’s intention, the resulting delay, the…

A fresh claim to set aside a judgment for fraud may be abusive where the alleged fraud was already challenged and determined in the earlier proceedings. A…

The court may permit late expert evidence where it is necessary, or reasonably required, to resolve a pleaded issue. Delay is relevant but does not itself…

In contempt proceedings, the court may proceed in a defendant’s absence where the defendant had effective notice, a fair opportunity to participate and…

A mortgagee’s interest insurance policy may respond where loss results from damage to the mortgaged vessel and the owner’s underlying policy does not pay…

A challenge under section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 is concerned with procedural fairness, not whether an arbitral tribunal reached the correct…

On an application concerning a contribution claim, a party must plead facts showing a legally recognisable claim with a realistic prospect of success. A…

A contractual audit condition is construed objectively in its contractual and commercial context. Where the agreement does not define the audit, the parties’…

The court may permit an amendment where the proposed case is coherent, discloses reasonable grounds and has a real, rather than fanciful, prospect of success.…

Where contractual terms govern the appointment and removal of a trustee, the court must construe the provisions together, giving effect to their language…

A contractual discretion to award a performance-related bonus must be exercised for the purpose stated in the contract. Where the contract defines the relevant…

Where parties have agreed to English jurisdiction, a stay on forum non conveniens grounds requires strong, or potentially very strong, reasons. Foreseeable…

Where the highest relevant foreign court has repeatedly determined an issue of foreign law, an English court should follow that law unless the evidence shows…

In representative proceedings, the court must define the represented class with complete clarity and consistency. A representative claimant represents only the…

On an appeal under Arbitration Act 1996, a wrongful declaration of force majeure does not relieve the innocent party from proving that, absent the repudiation…

Permission to appeal may be refused where the first-instance conclusions are fact-specific and there is no realistic prospect of appellate interference. On an…

Summary judgment is appropriate where the defendant has no realistic prospect of defending the relevant issue and no compelling reason for trial. A defendant…

On an application challenging service out of the jurisdiction, the court must assess whether the pleaded claim has a realistic prospect of success, assuming…

An implied term may qualify clear contractual words where that qualification is necessary to give the agreement business efficacy. The description of an…

In responding to an abuse of process, the court must choose a response that is appropriate and proportionate. The response need not be limited to striking out…

When an interlocutory costs order is revisited after an appeal has corrected the legal analysis, the court must assess the interlocutory contest as a whole.…

An anti-suit injunction will be granted to restrain foreign proceedings only where the contractual or non-contractual basis for relief is established and the…

A client-money broker is obliged to comply only with payment instructions falling within the contractual obligation identified from the parties’ express terms…

Under section 42 of the Arbitration Act 1996, the court may enforce a tribunal’s peremptory order requiring a party to withdraw or stay foreign proceedings…

Actual authority is assessed objectively from the principal’s manifestation of assent, viewed in context. In a family-owned company, seniority and…

The court’s case-management discretion permits bifurcation where the likely saving in cost and procedural efficiency outweighs overlap, delay, appellate and…

In a contractual “battle of the forms”, the court must examine the contemporaneous documents and conduct as a whole. The “last shot” doctrine does not apply…

For summary judgment or strike out, the court must decide whether the claim has a realistic prospect of success without conducting a mini-trial. Where the law…

Asset disclosure is ordinarily an essential ancillary feature of a freezing order. A pending challenge to the order, including an allegation that it was…

A party may treat a contract as repudiated for self-induced impossibility only where non-performance has become inevitable in fact. Mere uncertainty, or…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed grounds disclose no more than a fanciful prospect of success. Findings based on the evidence as a…

Unethical acquisition of sensitive information from an opponent’s litigation solicitor can constitute abuse of process, regardless of whether the information…

On an application to set aside an without-notice extension of time for serving a claim form, the court conducts a rehearing and exercises its discretion in…

An ICSID Convention award is not assignable merely because the Convention contains no express prohibition on assignment. Article 54(2), read in context and…

An indemnity costs order remains exceptional. The starting point is assessment on the standard basis, and the receiving party bears the burden of showing that…

Fraudulent misrepresentations inducing an investment were established on the balance of probabilities. The seriousness of fraud affects the cogency required of…

The court’s powers to control proceedings and prevent abuse include debarring a party, but debarment is a severe, proportionate remedy directed to the proposed…

A CIF seller must provide an effective insurance policy. A policy is ineffective where it is void or voidable for misrepresentation or non-disclosure, unless…

Where a costs order grants a party the costs of issues specifically raised by its application, that ordinarily means costs of issues specific to that…

A lower court may determine an application for permission to appeal only at the decision hearing or an adjournment formally made by that time. A general…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed ground has no real prospect of success and no other compelling reason justifies an appeal. A…

A restitutionary claim for services provided under a contract depends first on the proper construction of that contract. Where the contract provides a written…

In a large group action, the court may order a preliminary issue where it is potentially dispositive, legally and factually manageable, and likely to promote…

On an application to amend, a pleaded legal argument should proceed where it has realistic prospects of success and is sufficiently particularised. Strike-out…

For an arbitration appeal under section 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996, the 28-day period normally runs from the date of the award being challenged. Where that…

In back-to-back excess of loss reinsurance, an excess stated by reference to the underlying indemnity limit is eroded by indemnity payments, not by defence…

An application to discharge an injunction may be an abuse of process where the respondent had an earlier opportunity to challenge it, unless there is good…

At a case management hearing, the court should not determine an application that has not been formally listed where the opposing party has not had a proper…

Contempt proceedings may proceed in a defendant’s absence where the defendant has been properly served, had sufficient notice and a fair opportunity to…

An insurer may be joined to liability proceedings against its insured where it has a legitimate interest in a live issue, particularly where a conflict of…

Joinder after service of the claim form is governed by desirability, not necessity. A person may be added where this will enable the court to resolve all…

A party cannot withhold documents identified by an existing disclosure search merely by asserting that the pleaded issue to which they relate is unimportant.…

A challenge under section 68(2)(g) of the Arbitration Act 1996 concerns serious irregularity affecting the tribunal, the arbitral proceedings or the award. It…

On a section 69 appeal, the requirement that an award be “obviously wrong” governs the grant of permission, not the substantive hearing after permission has…

The award of interest remains discretionary. Interest will ordinarily run from loss, but the court may allow insurers reasonable time to investigate and…

A minimum royalty payable under a commercial trade mark licence may constitute a floor for a single payment obligation, rather than a severable payment for one…

A Part 36 offer is construed in its contractual and procedural context. A payment previously made on account of an alternative claim may be treated as included…

An application under section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 is a remedy of last resort. A party must first exhaust any available recourse under section 57.…

Where a national tax authority pays refund claims under an administrative claim form and credit advices without a process that establishes entitlement under…

Restrictive covenants prohibiting a person from being “concerned” in a competing business may be breached by lending funds or providing assistance, even where…

A contractual requirement that medical devices achieve a specified Sterility Assurance Level is necessarily implemented through an appropriate, validated…

An interim anti-suit injunction may be granted to restrain foreign proceedings brought in breach of an exclusive jurisdiction clause where the applicant…

An extension of time to challenge an arbitration award under sections 67 or 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 is discretionary and must be approached through the…

Where judgment has already been entered and only quantum and consequential costs remain, the court may determine those issues on the material properly before…

A notification clause must be construed objectively, by reference to the words communicated and their factual context. The insured’s own knowledge may…

A witness summons under the Arbitration Act 1996 cannot be used as a form of non-party disclosure. Documents must be individually identified, or described…

Commercial parties who sign documents recording agreed essential terms will ordinarily be taken objectively to intend legal relations. An agreement is not…

For service out of the jurisdiction under CPR r. 6.33(2B), a claimant need not necessarily be a party to the contract containing the jurisdiction clause. The…

A contractual entitlement to a payment calculated by reference to net proceeds is governed by the precise contractual definitions and anti-avoidance machinery…

For service under CPR Part 6.33(2B), the claimant must establish a good arguable case that the claim falls within the relevant gateway. The intended defendant…

The court may impose an unless order debarring a party from participating in an ancillary inquiry or costs assessment where that party is in flagrant and…

Security for costs may be ordered where the applicant establishes a justified reason to believe that a corporate claimant will be unable to pay a future…

An anti-enforcement injunction is available to restrain a party from enforcing a judgment, including an English judgment, where that relief is just and…

Interest on a judgment debt is compensatory. Where the judgment is expressed in a foreign currency, the court may adopt a broad-brush borrowing-cost measure in…

On an application for strike out or summary judgment, pleaded facts are generally assumed to be true, but a claim may be disposed of summarily where it has no…

A challenge to an arbitration award under section 72 of the Arbitration Act 1996 is unavailable where the alleged non-party has engaged with the arbitral…

For an application to set aside a default judgment, the claimant must establish valid service. Where service relies on a contractual process-agent clause, the…

For service out under Civil Procedure Rules 1998, r 6.33(2B)(b), the jurisdiction agreement must be contained in a contract which the defendant is bound by and…

An anti-suit injunction will ordinarily be granted where the applicant establishes to a high degree of probability that an exclusive English jurisdiction…

On a summary judgment application, contractual time limits and notice provisions will not ordinarily bar an accrued payment claim unless the contract uses…

A contractual notice clause must be construed by its own wording and commercial purpose. A notice need not identify every warranty by number where it…

When extending time for security for costs, the court must balance the applicant’s real difficulty in complying with the order against the need to protect the…

A contractual sanctions clause permitting a shipowner to refuse orders on the basis of a reasonable judgment is construed as a whole and narrowly. The owner…

On an application under Civil Procedure Rules 1998 rules 3.4 and 24.3, claims should be disposed of summarily where there is no real prospect of success and no…

A contractual condition requiring payment of all sums due under a charterparty is not confined to sums presently payable directly to the owner. An indemnity…

In determining costs, the court should assess the parties’ reasonable costs by reference to the outcome of each application, the degree of success, the work…

Performance bonds may constitute “funds” and, alternatively, “economic resources” for the purposes of Council Regulation (EU) No. 269/2014. Where the…

For service of a tort claim out of the jurisdiction under gateway 3.1(9), damage may be sustained within England where conduct in England induces an English…

A time-charterer’s implied indemnity generally covers losses or liabilities which are an effective consequence of complying with the charterer’s orders, unless…

A regular default judgment may be set aside under CPR r.13.3 where the defendant has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim or there is some other…

In identifying a contracting party, the court may consider objective extrinsic evidence, including pre-contract negotiations, where the contractual description…

A disclosure guidance hearing will ordinarily attract costs in the case under Practice Direction 57AD. The court may depart from that default where the…

A request to an arbitral tribunal to admit an irregularity is not an “arbitral process of appeal or review” for the purposes of section 70(2) of the…

Summary judgment is inappropriate where a claim raises a novel or undecided issue of Hague Rules construction whose resolution depends materially on the facts.…

Security for costs may be ordered where the jurisdictional condition is satisfied and the order is just, subject to the court’s broad discretion under the…

An insurance policy must be read objectively as a whole. A schedule describing property damage and business interruption as insured does not necessarily…

A court may proceed in a defendant’s absence where the defendant knowingly and voluntarily declines to participate, having regard to caution, likely attendance…

An agent selling insurance must comply with the applicable industry code and take reasonable steps to secure compliant sales. For payment protection insurance…

A party may rely on a third-party report to plead that it was prepared, supplied, and capable of influencing a decision-maker, without alleging that its…

On strike-out and summary judgment, pleaded facts should generally be accepted unless they are demonstrably untrue or unsupportable. A claim should proceed…

A post-judgment freezing order still requires proof of a real risk that the judgment will go unsatisfied because of unjustified dissipation of assets. The…

A contractual obligation to pay cash for shares is not conditional on regulatory approval where the agreement expressly makes regulatory permission relevant…

For the one-year time bar in Article III,6 of the Hague-Visby Rules, “suit” means substantive proceedings capable of determining liability. Proceedings brought…

Under business-interruption cover, an “any one loss” limit ordinarily applies by reference to each insured trigger event and the resulting loss calculation…

An exclusive jurisdiction clause does not ordinarily extend to claims against non-parties merely because they concern the same facts or subject matter.…

In an inquiry into damages under a cross-undertaking given for a freezing order, allegations that the order was obtained dishonestly should be permitted only…

On an application under Civil Procedure Rules 1998 Part 13.3, the defendant must show a realistic, rather than fanciful, prospect of successfully defending the…

Norwich Pharmacal relief is exceptional and flexible, but an order must be necessary in, or further, the interests of justice. It is not available merely to…

Under section 49(2) of the Sale of Goods Act 1979, a price is payable “irrespective of delivery” only where the seller’s delivery obligation is not a condition…

A disclosure provision concerning documents mentioned in evidence is engaged only where the document is referred to, cited, or directly alluded to. A general…

A court may proceed in a party’s absence where the party knew of the hearing, had access to the relevant material and voluntarily disengaged. In an undefended…

A private applicant may have a legitimate interest in bringing civil contempt proceedings, including to uphold an order and deter future breaches. That…

A foreign arbitral award cannot ordinarily be used to prove facts in later English proceedings between different parties. Where reliance on the award depends…

Article 18(1) of the Montreal Convention 1999 imposes strict liability where an event causing cargo damage occurs during carriage by air, subject to the…

The court may authorise alternative service where there is a good reason to do so, including where statutory service within the jurisdiction is technically…

A binding contract may arise before execution of a contemplated formal agreement where the parties’ communications and conduct objectively show sufficient…

The court may vary or discharge an undertaking given to the court where circumstances justify doing so, with particular attention to any material change in…

Applications under section 45 of the Arbitration Act 1996 should not be used to review a procedural determination already made by an arbitral tribunal. Where…

In an unopposed merits trial, a claimant seeking recovery for fraud must prove liability and quantum against each non-participating defendant to the civil…

The court may not grant fresh interim relief in support of a foreign arbitration under Arbitration Act 1996, section 44, where the statutory conditions of…

A lower court’s jurisdiction to grant permission to appeal ends when the decision hearing concludes, unless that hearing has been formally adjourned. A…

Permission to seek summary judgment may be granted where the claim was validly served, the court has jurisdiction and the claimant reasonably believes that a…

Disclosure of litigation-funding arrangements may be ordered where a prospective non-party costs application is not weak or fanciful. The court need not…

Where an arbitration claim form is served out of time, the challenge is jurisdictional and must be determined under CPR 11. CPR 62.4(2) modifies the ordinary…

On remittal after an appellate ruling has altered the scope of insured loss, the court should ordinarily resume the case on the evidence available at the end…

Extensions of time for disclosure should be managed proportionately and by reference to the actual procedural risk. An unless order is a remedy of last resort…

Where an urgent application for interim injunctive relief must be decided on limited evidence, the court may form provisional views where the consequences of…

The principle of open justice is the starting point. Confidentiality orders are exceptional and must be justified by clear and cogent evidence. They must go no…

A contract cannot be inferred from conduct where that conduct is equally, or more readily, explained by the parties’ existing contractual rights and…

Claims governed by foreign law may be summarily dismissed where reliable evidence establishes that they are time-barred, belong to another claimant, or…

A statutory corporate succession governed by the law of the company’s domicile may transfer contractual and arbitration rights without operating as an…

Permission to make a very late substantive amendment to a statement of case requires a careful balancing exercise under the overriding objective. The applicant…

Where a party avoids strike-out or summary judgment only because the court gives it a final opportunity to cure serious pleading defects, that party may…

For jurisdiction under an investment treaty, the court must interpret the treaty as a single combined operation, giving proper weight to text, context, object…

An indemnity covering costs and liabilities arising from an authorised guarantee agreement applied only where those costs and liabilities also arose from the…

In an LMAA arbitration, apparent bias is assessed objectively by asking whether the fair-minded and informed observer would conclude that there was a real…

A defendant debarred from defending proceedings is ordinarily prevented from adducing evidence, challenging the claimant’s case or making substantive…

Interim mandatory injunctions are governed by the same underlying principle as prohibitory injunctions: the court must select the course creating the least…

On an application to strike out or obtain summary judgment against an insurer’s defences, a defence with a realistic prospect of success should ordinarily…

English jurisdictional restrictions concerning the administration of estates do not prevent proceedings against heirs personally where the law of the…

Standard terms may be incorporated into a contract through the parties’ words and conduct, even where the individual contract does not refer to them and there…

Summary judgment is inappropriate where the existence and operation of a relevant duty depend on disputed facts, incomplete documentation and evidence likely…

Without prejudice privilege is a fundamental protection and its exceptions must be applied narrowly. The exception for unambiguous impropriety requires clear…

A proprietary claim may be maintained to recover stolen cryptocurrency, or traceable proceeds, where the assets remain identifiable through conventional…

In non-marine property insurance, permanent deprivation of possession constitutes physical loss where, on the balance of probabilities, the deprivation is…

Under CPR 40.9, a non-party must first show that a judgment or order directly affects an interest recognised by law. The court must then decide whether to set…

Where costs are payable following dismissal of an application, the court may consider the appropriate form of costs order afresh. A party’s sanctions-related…

An arbitration agreement generally governs disputes between its contracting parties. Wide words such as disputes arising out of or connected with a contract do…

Applications to amend pleadings at a late stage require a fair balance between the amendment’s importance and the prejudice caused to the opposing party.…

An arbitration clause covering any dispute arising out of or under a contract may extend to a dispute about whether a later agreement altered or extinguished…

Issuing proceedings to preserve limitation is abusive only where, at issue, the claimant lacks both a genuine intention to proceed and a reasonable basis…

On a summary judgment application, the court must assess the pleaded and evidential case as it stands, while considering evidence reasonably expected to be…

Contractual indexation provisions must be construed by identifying what the parties agreed, rather than what they might sensibly have agreed. Where later…

An English court with jurisdiction to determine an enforcement claim should ordinarily decide it on the merits. An indefinite stay requires a powerful reason…

A court may order indemnity costs where the claimant’s conduct takes the case outside the norm. The assessment may be limited to the period or work affected by…

A transaction entered into for a Swiss company is void where the officer acted under a sufficiently serious conflict of interest, failed to neutralise the…

A stay of execution under CPR 83.7 requires special circumstances making enforcement inexpedient. The threshold is high because a judgment creditor is…

In a service-in forum non conveniens case, the defendant must show that the foreign forum is available and clearly or distinctly more appropriate. The…

Permission to appeal may be granted where an issue concerning state immunity has implications beyond the dispute and presents another compelling reason under…

An order for security for costs requires more than uncertainty about a claimant’s ability to pay, but less than proof on the balance of probabilities. The…

The power to vary an interim payment order is discretionary but should be exercised on principled grounds. Relevant considerations ordinarily include a…

A summary judgment application cannot be used to isolate individual factual or legal issues which form only part of a claim or counterclaim. Such issues…

In construing a commercial insurance policy, a capitalised term defined in the relevant section will ordinarily bear its defined meaning. Where the definition…

Further fortification of a cross-undertaking in damages should not be ordered after the relevant injunction has been discharged. Such an order would…

A judgment obtained by fraud may be challenged even where the fraud could have been discovered earlier through reasonable diligence. The claim is abusive only…

On an application for summary judgment, the court must decide whether the relevant claim or defence has a realistic, rather than fanciful, prospect of success.…

Arbitral confidentiality protects the private use and deployment of material in the arbitral process, including hearings, disclosed documents, documents…

In an insurance fraud case, the civil standard remains the balance of probabilities. Fraud is not established merely because an accidental explanation appears…

Where parallel foreign proceedings may determine overlapping issues, the court may stay English enforcement proceedings under its case-management powers where…

A confidentiality ring is an exceptional departure from open justice and must be justified by clear and cogent evidence. Where disclosure may conflict with…

An interim anti-suit injunction should ordinarily continue where, to a high degree of probability, proceedings are brought in breach of an exclusive English…

Summary judgment is appropriate where a claim has no realistic prospect of success and no other compelling reason requires a trial. The court should not…

For security for costs, the court determines the substance of an application rather than its procedural form. A non-party’s application under Civil Procedure…

Ratification of the New York Convention does not, by itself, amount to a state’s submission to the adjudicative jurisdiction of the English courts under…

A contractual termination payment is not a penalty merely because it exceeds a conventional pre-estimate of loss. The court must identify the innocent party’s…

In assessing breach of bribery warranties on a share sale, the court must determine whether conduct constituted an inducement for improper performance. It is…

Claims under New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, section 82(1), are expressed as conferring a right to compensation where an undertaker causes damage or loss…

The court may revoke or vary final injunctive orders, declarations and costs orders where the procedural rules confer that power and the circumstances justify…

On an application for summary judgment concerning limitation under Limitation Act 1980, reasonable diligence is a single statutory inquiry. It applies both to…

On a challenge under section 67 of the Arbitration Act 1996, the court must determine substantive jurisdiction for itself. Where a sole trader’s business is…

Where multiple insurance policies cover the same risk and contain excess or other-insurance clauses, the clauses must be construed objectively and together. If…

The appropriate rate of interest on damages is determined broadly by reference to the general characteristics of the claimant, rather than its actual borrowing…

An undisclosed principal may enforce and be liable under an ordinary commercial contract where the agent acted within actual authority, intended to act for the…

The court’s case-management powers under Civil Procedure Rules r 3.1(2)(p) are confined to orders genuinely required to manage proceedings and further the…

A document may create legally binding obligations on some matters while leaving other matters subject to fuller documentation. The question is one of objective…

At the first permission stage for a derivative claim, the court must determine whether the evidence discloses a prima facie case satisfying all relevant…

For an interim proprietary freezing injunction concerning cryptocurrency, the applicant must show a serious issue to be tried, inadequacy of damages and a…

Permission to apply for summary judgment may properly be granted where the claim has been validly served, the court has jurisdiction, and a reasoned judgment…

The court held that an adviser may properly recommend structured products (MINs and HFPOs) and specialised fund compartments as consistent with conservative…

Rules of an unincorporated association form a contract and may incorporate external guidance or codes by reference where the wording is sufficiently wide and…

A contractual warranty does not, without more, constitute an actionable representation of fact. That principle does not establish that statements in a draft…

A case-management stay may be imposed or reinstated where exceptional and continuing litigation would otherwise consume disproportionate court resources…

Under Arbitration Act 1996, s.72, a non-participating person may apply to the court to determine whether the arbitration agreement invoked in existing…

Where material is shown to have been sent to the court before a procedural deadline but was not received because of transmission difficulties, the court may…

A change of position defence to restitution is governed by legal principle, applied flexibly to all the circumstances. Payment away under a contract later…

A contractual guarantee must be construed according to its wording and commercial context. A guarantee securing repayment obligations may be a…

A Rule K arbitration agreement in the rules of a sporting governing body may have horizontal contractual effect between participants who have separately and…

Where damages compensate for the value of property and an equitable account concerns profits generated by that property, the remedies must be applied so as to…

An asymmetrical jurisdiction clause permitting an insurer to sue in any court with or claiming jurisdiction, coupled with a non-exclusive submission and forum…

On a re-hearing of without-notice applications, an extension of time for serving a claim form should be justified against the defendant’s right to service…

Permission to make a substantive amendment shortly before trial depends on the overriding objective and requires a balance between the applicant’s interests…

The court has a broad discretion when allocating the costs of an interim injunction application. The general rule that the unsuccessful party pays does not…

Permission to serve out requires a good arguable case on an applicable jurisdictional gateway and a serious issue to be tried. A jurisdictional gateway cannot…

Permission to amend a claim should be refused where the proposed claim has no more than a fanciful prospect of success. The applicant must plead sufficient…

Confidential information may exist in a collection of material even though some individual elements are public, commonplace or non-confidential. The relevant…

Under section 68(2)(d) of the Arbitration Act 1996, an arbitral tribunal fails to deal with an issue where that issue is essential to the result and the award…

A stay of civil proceedings is not warranted merely because a litigant in prison lacks the resources or technology available to the opposing party. The…

A document described as a letter of comfort may constitute an enforceable guarantee, indemnity, or both. The label is not determinative; the court construes…

For a claim alleging malicious prosecution of civil proceedings, the direct invasion of the claimant’s legally protected interest occurs principally where the…

A contractual incorporation of the Hague Rules may be modified, but only by clear words. A clause paramount incorporating Articles III Rules 6 and 8 ordinarily…

A contractual reference by international commercial parties to the courts and laws of the United Kingdom may, in context, identify the High Court of England…

Costs arising from a third-party or Part 20 claim remain a matter for the court’s discretion under Senior Courts Act 1981, section 51(1). The usual starting…

Permission to appeal under CPR 52.6(1)(a) requires a realistic, rather than fanciful, prospect of success. A construction argument may be possible without…

Contract-based declarations may be granted where they reflect agreed contractual provisions and serve the interests of finality, but the court should remain…

For a freezing injunction in aid of arbitration, the applicant must establish a good arguable case on the merits, assets against which a judgment could be…

The court may grant a final anti-suit injunction to enforce an exclusive arbitration agreement where the agreement and its application to the dispute are…

Summary judgment is appropriate where the defendant has no realistic prospect of successfully defending the claim and no other compelling reason for trial…

Strike out and summary judgment require different thresholds. Strike out is appropriate only where the statement of case discloses no reasonable grounds and…

The Ralli Bros principle is a narrow exception to the rule that an English-law contract is enforced without reference to foreign illegality. It applies where…

When ordering an interim payment on account of costs, the court need not identify the irreducible minimum of the receiving party’s recovery. It should estimate…

A guarantee is construed by reference to the instrument as a whole and its commercial context. References to a demand, unconditional liability or liability as…

A contractual pre-emption right triggered by a lender’s wish to sell requires a firmly formed and unequivocal intention to sell, which the lender is willing to…

Contractual notice provisions may apply to a determination even where the contract uses less formal language such as “submit”. Broad provisions governing…

Insurance proposal questions are construed objectively in their contractual and commercial context. A question referring to partners or directors involved in…

A court cannot use its inherent jurisdiction to make a fresh or substantially repeated order under Civil Procedure Rules 1998 Part 71 where the statutory…

An insurer is generally not bound by findings made against its insured in proceedings to which it was not a party or privy. It may contest the insured’s…

A contractual exemption from investor consent must be construed according to the defined terms chosen by the parties and the agreement read as a whole. A…

On summary judgment, the court may critically evaluate the available evidence, while avoiding a mini-trial. A claim should proceed where the pleaded case has a…

A contractual renewal clause conditioned continuation on positive performance and mutual understanding of the same business goals. Those conditions were…

A tribunal must give each party a reasonable opportunity to address a point which may determine the outcome. Deciding a claim on an unargued issue may…

Permission to seek summary judgment against defendants who have not acknowledged service may be granted where the procedural safeguards are satisfied, the…

In sentencing for contempt arising from breaches of a freezing order, the court must assess seriousness by reference to culpability and harm, consider whether…

A contractual price-adjustment clause referring to a sale may apply to a transfer for value to a related company where the agreement contains no express…

Products labelled as effective against particular bacteria are not necessarily medicinal products. The relevant question is whether they are presented as…

A statement of case must identify concisely and coherently the material facts necessary to establish a complete cause of action. A pleading that is prolix…

An application to substitute a claimant under CPR rule 19.2(4) requires the applicant to establish that the existing party’s interest has passed to it, or that…

A trial may proceed in a defendant’s absence where the defendant knew of the hearing and deliberately chose not to attend. Striking out a defence for…

A contractual expert determination will generally bind the parties where the expert has acted within the scope of the reference, subject to any agreed…

A contractual consent power is not necessarily absolute merely because the underlying prohibition is expressed in unqualified terms. Where a professionally…

For service within the jurisdiction, temporary absence does not ordinarily remove a person from the court’s jurisdiction where the evidence shows an intention…

A final English judgment founded on a foreign judgment may exceptionally be set aside under CPR r.3.1(7) where the foreign judgment is subsequently undermined…

A written commercial contract is construed objectively, giving primary weight to its language while considering the contract as a whole, its purpose, relevant…

An anti-enforcement injunction may restrain a party from enforcing abroad a judgment obtained in breach of an exclusive jurisdiction clause or arbitration…

The High Court holds that use of intermediary "sleeve" companies and payments to service providers in West African oil term-contract trading are commercially…

Where successive reinsurance documents contain competing dispute-resolution provisions, the court must construe them as a whole and give effect to any…

An authorised guarantee agreement is construed as a whole. Clear words are required before it is treated as ending the original tenant’s liability upon…

On jurisdictional applications, the claimant must show that the pleaded case has a real, rather than fanciful, prospect of success. An unlawful-means…

Where a decision under Arbitration Act 1996 section 69 is made without a hearing, the statutory right to seek permission to appeal from the lower court cannot…

When supporting foreign proceedings, the High Court may continue a proprietary injunction under Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982, section 25, where…

Equitable set-off may, in principle, be asserted against a costs order by reference to an unpaid judgment debt where the transactions are sufficiently closely…

A deed described as an indemnity may impose a primary payment obligation even where payment is triggered by another party’s default. Characterisation depends…

A challenge to an arbitral award under Arbitration Act 1996 section 68 is a longstop remedy. The applicant must show a serious procedural irregularity of a…

An application to adjourn a trial because of leading counsel’s illness requires a fact-sensitive assessment of whether proceeding would be fair. The court must…