Al Sabah and Al Sabah v Grupo Torras SA Culmer as trustee of the property of Sheikh Fahad Mohammed Al Sabah, bankrupt: PC 11 Jan 2005

PC (Cayman Islands) The claimant complained of an order of the Court of Appeal of the Cayman Islands, requiring him to comply with a letter of request from the Grand Court of the Bahamas.
Held: In earlier times, Acts of the English parliament were readily held to apply throughout the Empire. Over time two other principles came to apply; that England should not interfere unasked in the laws of Commonwealth countries, and that laws passed at Westminster should not apply extra-territorially unless clearly intended to do so. In 1914 the Bahamas, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands were colonies, but each was acquired and governed differently, and had later taken different routes forward. After independence, the new insolvency laws of Jamaica were limited to applying also to the Cayman Islands. The Cayman legislation on this point appeared to have no effect. The 1985 Act did not repeal the application outside the UK of section 122 of the 1914 Act, which remained in effect, and the Cayman Islands had jurisdiction to make the order it had to comply with the letter of request.

Judges:

Lord Hoffmann, Lord Scott of Foscote, Lord Rodger of Earlsferry, Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe, Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood

Citations:

Times 14-Jan-2005, [2005] UKPC 1

Links:

PC, Bailii

Statutes:

Bankruptcy Act 1914 122

Citing:

See AlsoGrupo Torras Sa and Another v Sheikh Fahad Mohammed Al Sabah and Others CA 26-May-1995
A UK court may continue to hear a Spanish company’s claim against it’s own directors if a court was first seized of the matter here. Where a case concerned matters as to the constitution of a company, the courts of the company in which the company . .
See AlsoGrupo Torras SA and Torras Hostench London Limited v Sheikh Fahad Mohammed Al Sabah and others (2) CA 21-Mar-1997
The Court of Appeal should interfere with Judge’s case management decisions only with great reluctance. . .
See AlsoGrupo Torras SA and Torras Hostench London Limited v Sheikh Fahad Mohammed Al-Sabah Et Al CA 2-Oct-1997
A party choosing to provide discovery of substantial documents on a Compact Disk must ask the court first before charging extra for the service. . .
CitedGrupo Torras SA and Another v Al-Sabah and others Lst CA 6-Feb-1998
. .
See AlsoBarbara Alison Al-Sabah and Another v Grupo Torras S A and Others PC 10-Oct-2000
PC (Jersey) The board refused special leave to appeal: ‘Normally all such questions of case management are matters for the courts concerned and are not suitable for any further review before their Lordships’ . .
See AlsoKhaled Naser Hamoud Al-Sabah and Juan Jose Folchi Bonafonte v Grupo Torras SA CA 2-Nov-2000
The court discussed the approach to be taken when asked to act upon evidence which it found to be unreliable, though the witness’s credibility had not been destroyed. In a claim for dishonest assistance it is not necessary to show a precise causal . .
See AlsoGrupo Torras Sa and Another v Al-Sabah and others CA 30-Jul-2001
The hearing followed others concluding that the claimant had been defrauded of substantial sums by the defendants. The parties sought clarifications. . .
CitedCallender, Sykes and Co v Colonial Secretary of Lagos PC 1891
Nigeria had no bankruptcy law of its own.
Held: The general vesting provisions of the Bankruptcy Act 1869 of the United Kingdom (and not merely provisions about reciprocal enforcement) applied in Nigeria. . .
CitedRegina v Jameson 1896
As to possessions after acquired by occupancy, settlers from the parent country take their law with them into such possessions so far as they may reasonably be applied. . .
CitedRe Hart, ex parte Green 1912
The original disposal by a debtor was prior to the act of bankruptcy, though the later transfer by the disponee to the defendant was after it.
Held: In such a case, the trustee could not succeed against a transferee for value without notice. . .
CitedRe Dallhold Estates (UK) Pty Ltd ChD 1992
The court discussed the the receipt and acceptance of a letter of request: ‘The scheme of subsection (5) appears to me to be this. The first step is to identify the matters specified in the request. Secondly, the domestic court should ask itself . .
CitedHughes and others v Hannover Re Ruckversicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft CA 28-Jan-1997
An insolvency court answering an international call for assistance has the full range of remedies available to it. It may exercise ‘its own general jurisdiction and powers’ as well as the insolvency laws of England and the corresponding laws of the . .
CitedGalbraith v Grimshaw and Baxter HL 2-Jan-1910
Where a Scottish sequestration occurred shortly after an English garnishee order nisi, the judgment creditor prevailed over the trustee in bankruptcy, although the result would have been different if both the attachment and the bankruptcy had . .
CitedRe Osborn 1931
An Isle of Man trustee in bankruptcy was seeking the assistance of the English court in relation to the bankrupt’s immovable property in England.
Held: Section 122 was to be given a cautious interpretation. . .
CitedRe A Debtor (Order in Aid No 1 of 1979) ex parte Viscount of the Royal Court of Jersey 1981
The court noted the differences in bankruptcy law between England and Jersey: ‘The word ‘bankruptcy’ in section 122, if indeed it refers at all to process of bankruptcy, must, in my judgment, be construed in a wide sense, for the section is designed . .

Cited by:

See AlsoGrupo Torras Sa and Another v Sheikh Fahad Mohammed Al Sabah and Others CA 26-May-1995
A UK court may continue to hear a Spanish company’s claim against it’s own directors if a court was first seized of the matter here. Where a case concerned matters as to the constitution of a company, the courts of the company in which the company . .
See AlsoGrupo Torras SA and Torras Hostench London Limited v Sheikh Fahad Mohammed Al Sabah and others (2) CA 21-Mar-1997
The Court of Appeal should interfere with Judge’s case management decisions only with great reluctance. . .
See AlsoGrupo Torras SA and Torras Hostench London Limited v Sheikh Fahad Mohammed Al-Sabah Et Al CA 2-Oct-1997
A party choosing to provide discovery of substantial documents on a Compact Disk must ask the court first before charging extra for the service. . .
See AlsoGrupo Torras SA and Another v Al-Sabah and others Lst CA 6-Feb-1998
. .
See AlsoBarbara Alison Al-Sabah and Another v Grupo Torras S A and Others PC 10-Oct-2000
PC (Jersey) The board refused special leave to appeal: ‘Normally all such questions of case management are matters for the courts concerned and are not suitable for any further review before their Lordships’ . .
See AlsoKhaled Naser Hamoud Al-Sabah and Juan Jose Folchi Bonafonte v Grupo Torras SA CA 2-Nov-2000
The court discussed the approach to be taken when asked to act upon evidence which it found to be unreliable, though the witness’s credibility had not been destroyed. In a claim for dishonest assistance it is not necessary to show a precise causal . .
See AlsoGrupo Torras Sa and Another v Al-Sabah and others CA 30-Jul-2001
The hearing followed others concluding that the claimant had been defrauded of substantial sums by the defendants. The parties sought clarifications. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Commonwealth, Insolvency

Updated: 28 June 2022; Ref: scu.221052