Derby v Weldon (No. 3): ChD 7 Nov 1988

The plaintiff alleged conspiracy to defraud in a sum in excess of andpound;25m. During the application for a freezing order the stance of the defendant had been one of ‘taciturnity’ and non-disclosure. But on the last day of the hearing it was said that the defendant held certain assets. Another defendant, to whom over andpound;50m had been paid, had no assets. That disclosure led to the application for a receivership order. Counsel for the defendant against whom the receivership order was sought presented no argument to the court on the question whether receivers should be appointed.
Held: Sir Nicholas Browne-Wilkinson VC appointed receivers in a case where the court had earlier made an asset freezing order, saying: ‘The first question of law, which does not give me much trouble but was very properly referred to by [counsel], is whether a Receiver can be appointed in aid of a Mareva injunction. In my judgment it plainly can be done. If the proper preservation of the assets frozen under the Mareva order requires the introduction of a Receiver to hold certain assets, I can see no reason why such a Receiver should not be appointed as a matter of law.’

Judges:

Sir Nicholas Browne-Wilkinson VC

Citations:

Unreported, 7 November 1988

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

See AlsoDerby and Co v Weldon CA 2-Aug-1988
The court has a power to make a pre-judgment worldwide asset freezing order (a mareva injunction) on satisfaction of the following conditions: 1. That the defendant can be protected against too many and oppressive actions, 2. That he can be . .

Cited by:

Appeal fromDerby and Co Ltd v Weldon (Nos 3 and 4) CA 1990
The plaintiff had obtained an asset freezing order against a defendant Panamanian Company, which now appealed saying that it was inappropriate to make such an order where the company had no assets in the jurisdiction.
Held: The appeal failed. . .
CitedJSC BTA Bank v A CA 19-Oct-2010
The court heard an appeal in private, against the order of Teare J imposing a receivership on the assets of Mr A pending the trial of claims made against him for misappropriations allegedly made by him while he was chairman of the claimant bank in . .
See alsoDerby and Co v Weldon (No2) CA 2-Jan-1989
The plaintiff appealed against the refusal of a world-wide Mareva injunction.
Held: The appeal succeeded. Lord Donaldson of Lymington MR said: ‘We live in a time of rapidly growing commercial and financial sophistication and it behoves the . .
See AlsoDerby and Co Ltd v Weldon CA 2-Jan-1989
The plaintiff sought damages for breach of contract, for negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and deceit and conspiracy. It sought a world-wide injunction.
Held: A freezing order (Mareva injunction) can be made in respect of assets which were . .
See AlsoDerby and Co v Weldon (No 6) CA 3-Jan-1990
The court considered its power to order transfer of assets from one jurisdiction (in this case Switzerland) to another in aid of a Mareva injunction.
Held: An order that assets be delivered or transferred to a receiver was a usual one.
See AlsoDerby and Co Ltd And Others v Weldon And Others (No 9) ChD 25-Jul-1990
The court considered the application of rules relating to the discovery of documents to material held on computer: ‘the database of a computer, so far as it contained information capable of being retrieved and converted into readable form, and . .
See AlsoDerby and Co Ltd v Weldon (No 8) CA 27-Jul-1990
There had been a lengthy and contentious process of discovery. Certain documents with legal professional privilege had also been handed over inadvertently. The plaintiff sought their return and an order against them being used.
Held: The . .
See AlsoDerby and Co Ltd And Others v Weldon And Others (No 10) CA 1991
A document had been disclosed by mistake.
Held: The inspecting parties must have realised that the documents had been disclosed by mistake. Fairness on the opposite party is the basis for the courts to hold for a waiver of legal privilege.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Litigation Practice

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.449759