This article may be too technical for most readers to understand.(June 2014) |
Allianz SpA v West Tankers | |
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Submitted 2 April 2007 Decided 10 February 2009 | |
Full case name | Allianz SpA, formerly Riunione Adriatica di Sicurtà SpA, Generali Assicurazioni Generali SpA, v West Tankers Inc. |
Case | C‑185/07 |
CelexID | 62007CJ0185 |
ECLI | ECLI:EU:C:2009:69 |
Case type | Reference for a preliminary ruling |
Chamber | Full chamber |
Procedural history | Reference of the House of Lords (United Kingdom) |
Court composition | |
Judge-Rapporteur J. Klučka | |
President V. Skouris | |
Judges | |
Advocate General J. Kokott | |
Legislation affecting | |
Interprets Brussels Regulation | |
Keywords | |
antisuit injunction, arbitration |
Allianz SpA v West Tankers is a preliminary ruling (case C-185/07) by the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union upon a reference for a preliminary ruling from the United Kingdom's House of Lords. The case arose because in August 2000 the Front Comor, a vessel owned by West Tankers and chartered by Erg Petroli SpA (‘Erg’), collided in Syracuse (Italy) with a jetty also owned by Erg, causing damage to the jetty. [1]
In its judgment issued on 10 February 2009, [1] the court held that the validity of arbitration agreements falls within the scope of the Brussels Regulation, but that anti-suit injunctions restraining a party from commencing or continuing processes in the court of a Brussels Regulation member state cannot be granted. [2]
In other words, the law of the Brussels Regulation does not allow a member state's court to give an order to restrain a person from commencing or continuing proceedings (a so-called anti-suit injunction) before the court of another member state on the ground that such proceedings would be contrary to the arbitration agreement. Member states must have mutual trust in one another and allowing anti-suit injunctions would undermine the effectiveness of the Regulation. However, a national court could grant an anti-suit injunction where the foreign proceedings were not in a Brussels Regulation state.
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. "When a court employs the extraordinary remedy of injunction, it directs the conduct of a party, and does so with the backing of its full coercive powers." A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties, including possible monetary sanctions and even imprisonment. They can also be charged with contempt of court.
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R v Secretary of State for Transport was a judicial review case taken against the United Kingdom government by a company of Spanish fishermen who claimed that the United Kingdom had breached European Union law by requiring ships to have a majority of British owners if they were to be registered in the UK. The case produced a number of significant judgements on British constitutional law, and was the first time that courts held that they had power to restrain the application of an Act of Parliament pending trial and ultimately to disapply that Act when it was found to be contrary to EU law.
In contract law, a forum selection clause in a contract with a conflict of laws element allows the parties to agree that any disputes relating to that contract will be resolved in a specific forum. They usually operate in conjunction with a choice of law clause which determines the proper law of the relevant contract.
A stay of proceedings is a ruling by the court in civil and criminal procedure that halts further legal process in a trial or other legal proceeding. The court can subsequently lift the stay and resume proceedings based on events taking place after the stay is ordered. However, a stay is sometimes used as a device to postpone proceedings indefinitely.
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The principle of lis alibi pendens applies in municipal law, public international law, and private international law to address the problem of potentially contradictory judgments. If two courts were to hear the same dispute, it is possible they would reach inconsistent decisions. To avoid the problem, there are two rules.
An arbitration award is a determination on the merits by an arbitration tribunal in an arbitration, and is analogous to a judgment in a court of law. It is referred to as an 'award' even where all of the claimant's claims fail, or the award is of a non-monetary nature.
In the area of conflict of laws, an anti-suit injunction is an order issued by a court or arbitral tribunal that prevents an opposing party from commencing or continuing a proceeding in another jurisdiction or forum. If the opposing party contravenes such an order issued by a court, a contempt of court order may be issued by the domestic court against that party.
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A preliminary ruling is a decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the interpretation of European Union law that is given in response to a request from a court or a tribunal of a member state. A preliminary ruling is a final determination of European Union law, with no scope for appeal. The ECJ hands down its decision to the referring court, which is then obliged to implement the ruling.
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Gasser
v MISAT (C–116/02) was a decision of the European Court of Justice regarding the interpretation of the Brussels convention of 1968 ruling that a court chosen in a choice of court agreement should stay its proceedings - as any other court chosen second within the Brussels regime - until the court first seized had declared it did not have jurisdiction. The court's decision was considered problematic as it favoured the uniformity of application of the Brussels regime jurisdictional rules temporarily over party autonomy. Due to similar provisions in the 2001 Brussels Regulation and Lugano Conventions, the interpretation also affects choice of court agreements under those later instruments. However, in the 2012 Recast version of the Brussels I Regulation chosen courts can take jurisdiction, even if a court not chosen has been addressed first.
Stichting Shell Pensioenfonds v Krys[2014] UKPC 41 was a decision of the Privy Council on appeal from the British Virgin Islands relating to an anti-suit injunction in connection with an insolvent liquidation being conducted by the British Virgin Islands courts.
Société Nationale Industrielle Aérospatiale v Lee Kui Jak[1987] UKPC 12, [1987] AC 871 is a judicial decision of Privy Council on appeal from Brunei which was for many years, and arguably still is, the leading authority in relation to anti-suit injunctions under the English common law.