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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales Court of Appeal (Civil Division) Decisions >> Unicredit Bank GmbH v Ruschemalliance LLC [2025] EWCA Civ 99 (11 February 2025) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2025/99.html Cite as: [2025] WLR(D) 86, [2025] EWCA Civ 99 |
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Case No: CA-2023-001933; CA-2023-001933-D |
ON APPEAL FROM THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS OF ENGLAND AND WALES
COMMERCIAL COURT (KBD)
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
JUSTICE ASPLIN
and
LORD JUSTICE PHILLIPS
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UniCredit Bank GmbH |
Claimant Applicant Appellant |
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- and – |
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RusChemAlliance LLC |
Defendant RespondentRespondent |
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Mikhail Sondor of ELWI Moscow appeared by video link for the Respondent (RCA)
Thomas Sebastian (appointed by the Attorney General) appeared as the Advocate to the Court
Hearing date: 4 February 2025
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Crown Copyright ©
SIR GEOFFREY VOS, MASTER OF THE ROLLS :
The application therefore raises important questions as to whether this court has power to revoke a final injunction and whether it should do so in circumstances where the penalty imposed by the Russian court appears to be contrary to Russia's international obligations under the New York Convention.
The relevant powers
(1) The list of powers in this rule is in addition to any powers given to the court by any other rule or practice direction or by any other enactment or any powers it may otherwise have. …
(7) A power of the court under these Rules to make an order includes a power to vary or revoke the order.
(1) The Court of Appeal or the High Court will not reopen a final determination of any appeal unless—
(a) it is necessary to do so in order to avoid real injustice;
(b) the circumstances are exceptional and make it appropriate to reopen the appeal; and
(c) there is no alternative effective remedy.
(1) At any time, a claimant may discontinue all or part of a claim against one or more defendants.
(2) However –
(a) a claimant must obtain the permission of the court if they wish to discontinue all or part of a claim in relation to which –
(i) the court has granted an interim injunction; or
(ii) any party has given an undertaking to the court …
Issue 1: Is UniCredit actually at risk of being forced to pay a penalty?
Issue 2: Does the court have power to revoke or vary a final order for an anti-suit injunction?
Issue 3: Has UniCredit been coerced into making this application, and if so, does that weigh against acceding to it?
At the end of the day, RCA has utilised the Russian law remedy, which was granted to it. The penalties may be, to our eyes, eye-watering but they were provided under foreign law and the sums in dispute are large, and it is difficult to imagine what standard the English courts would apply to test that coercion, to test why UniCredit is before it and therefore to treat it as a countervailing consideration.
Issue 4: Are there English public policy reasons for refusing to accede to the application, and, if so, how strongly do they militate in favour of refusing it?
An interest in ensuring compliance with the New York Convention could potentially give rise to countervailing considerations. At the level of private law, RCA's decision to commence proceedings in the Russian courts could amount to a breach of its contractual obligation under the relevant arbitration clause. At the level of public international law, the failure by the Russian courts to refer RCA to arbitration, following a request by UniCredit, would amount to a breach of the treaty obligation, owed by the Russian Federation to other parties to the New York Convention, under Article II(3) of the New York Convention. However, it is doubtful that the Russian Federation would be in continuing breach in circumstances where UniCredit may be taken to have waived RCA's obligation to arbitrate. In addition, although it is arguable that discretionary powers ought to be exercised in a manner that ensures that the United Kingdom is not in breach of its own treaty obligations, it is more debateable whether discretionary powers should be exercised with a view to ensuring treaty compliance by foreign states. Accordingly, my current view is that the public policy interest in encouraging compliance with the New York Convention ought not to operate as a material factor in exercising the Court's discretion under [CPR Part 3.1(7)].
Issue 5: Should the application be allowed and, if so, should the CA's Order be revoked or varied?
Conclusions
LADY JUSTICE ASPLIN:
LORD JUSTICE PHILLIPS: