Merchant International Company Ltd v Natsionalna Aktsionerna Kompaniia Naftogaz: CA 29 Feb 2012

The defendant appealed against a refusal to strike out the claim which was to seek to enforce a judgment obtained in Kiev and in the Ukraine Supreme Court.
Held: It had been a proper exercise of the discretion under CPR r 13.3 to refuse to set aside the default judgment. A court in England had jurisdiction to consider whether a judgment obtained in a foreign Convention state was obtained in breach of the Human Rights Convention provided there was clear evidence. Otherwise there is a strong presumption that the procedures of a Convention state complied with it. Here, the judgment was obtained in default had been obtained on a debt established in a foreign final judgment of a Convention state, A later judgment setting aside the original judgment had been made in open breach of article 6. The appeal failed.

Judges:

Lord Neuberger MR, Hooper, Toulson LJJ

Citations:

[2012] EWCA Civ 196, [2012] CP Rep 25, [2012] 1 WLR 3036, [2012] 1 CLC 396, [2012] WLR(D) 51, [2012] 2 All ER (Comm) 1

Links:

Bailii, WLRD

Statutes:

European Convention on Human Rights 6, Civil Procedure Rules 13.3

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Contract, Litigation Practice, Human Rights, International

Updated: 05 October 2022; Ref: scu.451704