Anti-suit Injunction Granted Restraining Proceedings In An EU Member State

• Published date: 06 December 2022
• Law Firm: Herbert Smith Freehills
• Author: Ms Anna Pertoldi and Maura McIntosh

The Commercial Court has granted an anti-suit injunction restraining Belgian proceedings brought in breach of an exclusive English jurisdiction clause: Ebury Partners Belgium SA/NV v Technical Touch BV, Jan Berthels [2022] EWHC 2927 (Comm).

This appears to be one of the first cases post-Brexit in which an anti-suit injunction has been granted by an English court restraining proceedings in an EU member state.

Prior to Brexit, the English court could not grant an anti-suit injunction in respect of EU proceedings as this was considered by the CJEU to be an interference with the jurisdiction of the other EU court, and contrary to the Brussels regime. It was exclusively for the court of the member state to determine whether or not it had such jurisdiction. Depending on the jurisdiction concerned, that could take some time.

In the Ebury case, it was common ground that anti-suit relief is now available from the English court, as shown by an earlier decision granting an...