T v B

Georgina Howitt (instructed by Mackrell Solicitors) for the Applicant Tim Amos KC (instructed by Expatriate Law) for the Respondent Hearing date: 1 November 2024 ____________________

HTML VERSION OF JUDGMENT APPROVED BY THE COURT FOR HANDING DOWN ____________________

If an English court concludes that it is the natural forum for the adjudication of a dispute, and that by proceeding in a foreign court, one of the parties is acting oppressively, the English court may, in the interests of justice, grant an injunction (commonly called an 'anti-suit injunction') restraining that party from pursuing the proceedings in the foreign court.

The general principle is that an anti-suit injunction will only be granted where it can be shown: (a) that England is the natural forum; and (b) that the pursuit of the foreign proceedings would be 'vexatious or oppressive': per Munby J in Bloch v Bloch, at para [47].

In contrast, a Hemain injunction is not a perpetual injunction permanently restraining the pursuit by a spouse of foreign proceedings; it is merely an interim injunction to maintain the status quo, to preserve a level playing field, pending the determination, typically, of that spouse's application for a stay of the English proceedings: per Munby J in R v R, at para [42].