Freezing Injunctions In The BVI: A Recent Development From England

The recent English Court of Appeal decision in Dos Santos v Unitel SA [2024] EWCA Civ 1109 provides welcome clarification as to the test for obtaining a freezing injunction.

The English Court of Appeal found that an applicant need not prove that its claim has a better than 50% chance of success in order to obtain a freezing injunction. As such, the court confirmed that there is a relatively low bar.

The basics

Freezing injunctions are a common feature of the BVI legal landscape. A freezing injunction is an interlocutory order of the court granted in aid of enforcement of a present or future judgment. Its purpose is to preserve the assets of the defendant when the court thinks that such preservation is necessary to satisfy a money judgment obtained by the claimant. They are a powerful tool for claimants to prevent the dissipation of a defendant's assets pending resolution of their underlying claim. They are also often granted in the BVI in aid of