Adams v National Bank of Greece: HL 1961

Questions of interpretation and enforcement of contracts are resolved by reference to the proper law. Although debt under a contract whose proper law is the law of another jurisdiction may, for the purposes of Scots law, be discharged by insolvency proceedings in that other jurisdiction, such proceedings will not, for the purposes of Scots law, discharge a debt where the proper law of the contract is not the law of the jurisdiction in which the proceedings are taking place.

Judges:

Lord Reid, Lord Denning

Citations:

[1961] AC 255

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

ApprovedAntony Gibbs and Sons v La Societe Industrielle et Commerciale des Metaux CA 1-Jul-1890
The defendant had agreed to buy copper to be delivered in England by the plaintiff. The defendant refused to accept the copper and so was liable in damages to the plaintiff. The defendant, a French company, was placed in judicial liquidation in . .

Cited by:

CitedOT Africa Line Ltd v Magic Sportswear Corporation and others CA 13-Jun-2005
The parties to a contract had agreed that the proper law for the contract was England. One party commenced proceedings in Canada, and the courts of Canada had accepted jurisdiction as the most appropriate and convenient forum to resolve the dispute. . .
CitedThe Winding Up Board of Landsbanki Islands Hf v Mills and Others OHCS 20-Jul-2010
The claimants had made claims in the insolvency of Landsbanki in Iceland. There had been a ruling by Landsbanki’s winding-up board in those Icelandic winding-up proceedings that to the extent that it was final and binding in Iceland, it must also be . .
CitedHeritable Bank Plc (Administrators of) v The Winding Up Board of Landsbanki Islands Hf SCS 28-Sep-2011
The appellant (H) had claimed in the responder’s (L) insolvency proceedings in Iceland. Their claim had been rejected by L’s winding-up board, and then withdrawn. L then claimed in H’s own insolvency in Scotland, saying that within the EEA, and . .
CitedHeritable Bank Plc, Administrators of v The Winding-Up Board of Landsbanki Islands Hf SC 27-Feb-2013
A claim by Heritable (H) in Landsbanki’s (L) insolvency had been rejected and then withdrawn before the Icelandic court, and L now appealed against rejection of its own assertion that that Icelandic decision was binding also within its own claim . .
CitedGlobal Distressed Alpha Fund 1 Ltd Partnership v Pt Bakrie Investindo ComC 17-Feb-2011
Action on an instrument of guarantee.
Held: judgment for the Claimant in respect of the principal sum of US$2m. and such interest payments as were due. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Jurisdiction, Contract, Scotland

Updated: 11 September 2022; Ref: scu.228195