Black Swan – Resuscitated

On 7 January 2021 the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (Virgin Islands) (Amendment) Act came into force, after clearing the House of Assembly on 31 December 2020 and receiving assent from the Deputy Governor on 6 January 2021. This Act (the Act) puts on a statutory footing the power of the Court to grant injunctive relief in support of a foreign proceeding.

The Act is also important in one further respect: it confers a statutory basis for the Court's power to grant Norwich Pharmacal relief in cases where disclosure might have been obtained pursuant to the provisions of the Evidence (Proceedings in Foreign Jurisdictions) Ordinance. In a series of decisions, such as UVW v XYZ BVIHCM 2016/108 and K&S v Z&Z BVIHCM(COM) 2020/0016 the BVI Court had already departed from the approach taken in recent English authorities which have held that Norwich Pharmacal relief is not available in cases where there is an alternative statutory route to obtaining the disclosure (as in