Arbitration – Anti-Suit Injunction Issued By Arbitrators

The European Court of Justice ('ECJ') in the Gazprom Case (2015) held that anti-suit injunctions issued by arbitral tribunals in relation to the pursuit of Court proceedings within the EU, are not incompatible with the Brussels Regulation. The ECJ held that the Brussels Regulation does not prevent a Court in an EU Member State from recognizing and enforcing an award containing such an anti-suit injunction, either pursuant to national law, or the New York Convention.

Anti-suit injunctions issued by Courts of Member States were held impermissible within the EU by the ECJ in the European Court cases TURNER –V- GROVIT (2004) and the FRONT CONOR (2009).

The above European Court decisions do not prohibit granting of an anti-suit injunction by courts of EU Member States in order to block the filing of Court proceeding before Courts of countries outside EU.