3 Power, Nature, and Form

Subject(s):

Injunctions to restrain proceedings in England and Wales

This chapter discusses the power of granting injunctions and the form and nature of anti-suit injunctions. In the High Court, final injunctions in ordinary private law litigation are granted under section 37(1) of the Senior Courts Act 1981, which restates and confirms the powers of the pre-Judicature Act courts to grant injunctions. Irrespective of whether anti-suit injunctions are justified by a correlative underlying legal or equitable right, and whether or not the requirement for a legal and equitable right is a question of power, or principle, or practice, anti-suit injunctions can be and are granted under section 37(1) of the Senior Courts Act 1981. In principle, other statutory powers could also support an anti-suit injunction, but section 37(1) is the only power that is used by the High Court in the modern case law to restrain foreign proceedings.