Like a low budget horror film, the Alfa v Cukurova
litigation seems to have an inexhaustible supply of sequels.
However, beyond a propensity for repetition, there the parallels to
low budget horror films ends (or low budget anything: the parties
have spent millions of dollars in legal fees fighting for control
of the US$3.3 billion BVI incorporated joint venture
vehicle). And unlike the denizens of Elm Street or Crystal
Lake, the end of this series seems to have a slightly less
predictable finish.
On 30 January 2013 the Privy Council handed down the seventh,
and what may be the last, substantive judgment in the seemingly
interminable Alfa Telecom v Cukurova litigation (report at
UKPC [2013] 2). In a surprising decision, the Privy Council
determined that Alfa had validly enforced the underlying share
security, but awarded relief from forfeiture. The decision is
likely to prove controversial. Whilst affirming the availability
and exercisability of appropriation of
