17 Jurisdiction under the Brussels–Lugano Regime

Subject(s):

Injunctions to restrain proceedings in England and Wales — Interim anti-suit injunctions

This chapter addresses the application of the jurisdictional rules of the Brussels–Lugano regime to anti-suit injunctions which fall within the material scope of the regime. The Brussels–Lugano regime imposes restrictions on the substantive power to grant anti-suit injunctions in relation to court proceedings elsewhere in the Brussels–Lugano zone. In short, if the other proceedings are elsewhere within the Brussels–Lugano zone, and within the material scope of the Brussels–Lugano regime, the English court will be precluded from granting anti-suit injunctions. In contrast, the application of the jurisdictional rules of the Brussels–Lugano regime imposes no inherent barrier to anti-suit injunctions. The English case law accepts that (1) final anti-suit injunctions are capable of falling within the Brussels–Lugano heads of jurisdiction; and that (2) interim anti-suit injunctions are capable of falling within the ancillary jurisdiction available under the Brussels–Lugano rules, where the court has jurisdiction over the merits.