Court of Appeal Published

July 10, 2009

Bloom and Others v Harms Offshore AHT “Taurus” and “Magnus” GmbH and Co KG

Before Lord Justice Ward, Lord Justice Stanley Burnton and Sir John Chadwick

Judgment June 26, 2009

Where creditors of a company in administration had attached property owned by that company in a foreign jurisdiction, the courts had power, in some circumstances, to grant injunctive relief affecting procedures in that foreign jurisdiction.

The Court of Appeal so stated in a reserved judgment giving reasons for having dismissed on May 15, 2009, the appeal of the defendants, Harms Offshore AHT “Taurus” and “Magnus” GmbH and Co KG, companies incorporated in Germany, from a decision of Mr Robert Englehart, QC, sitting as a deputy judge in the Companies Court of the Chancery Division (\[2009\] EWHC 1620 (Ch)) upon the application of Alan Robert Bloom, Colin Peter Dempster, Thomas Merchant Burton and Roy Bailey, joint administrators of Oilexco North Sea Ltd, a company in administration, granting injunctive relief requiring Harms Offshore, inter alia, to seek the release of ex parte maritime attachment and garnishment orders obtained in a New York court against assets of the company without notice to the joint administrators and without informing the New York court that the company was in administration.

Mrs Elspeth Talbot Rice, QC and Mr Edward Cumming for Harms Offshore; Mr William Trower, QC and Mr Tom Smith for the applicants.

LORD JUSTICE STANLEY BURNTON said that the courts had the appropriate jurisdiction which was not restricted by the territoriality of the relevant statutory provision, was not confined to the protection of the assets of a company that was being wound up, and was available to protect the assets of a company in administration.

The exercise of the jurisdiction would depend on the facts of each case and the court should exercise its powers so as to enable the administrators to exercise their statutory functions and to fulfil their statutory duties, so far as necessary in any particular case.

The comity owed by the courts of different jurisdictions to each other would normally make it inappropriate for the court to grant injunctive relief affecting procedures in a court of foreign jurisdiction; but in certain circumstances such relief could be granted.

Sir John Chadwick gave a concurring judgment and Lord Justice Ward agreed with both.

Solicitors: Ince & Co; Herbert Smith LLP.

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