On 18 September 2024, the UK Supreme Court gave its hotly anticipated reasoning in UniCredit Bank GmbH v RusChemAlliance LLC. The background of the dispute is well-known and set out in our previous article.

The Supreme Court in RTI Ltd v MUR Shipping BV [2024] UKSC 18 ruled that MUR was justified in rejecting RTI's non-contractual offer under a force majeure clause, emphasizing contractual certainty and limits to reasonable endeavours.

In Celestial Aviation Services Limited v UniCredit Bank GmbH, London Branch [2024] EWCA Civ 628, the Court of Appeal held that UK sanctions prohibited payments under letters of credit issued in relation to aircraft...

The Court of Appeal confirmed that the test for granting freezing orders is the "serious issue to be tried" standard, clarifying the language from the previous "good arguable case" test, which applies only to jurisdictional matters.

In 2023, arbitration remained a key method for resolving complex commercial disputes. ICC led globally with 870 cases, while LCIA handled 327. Disputes spanned various industries, with growing diversity in arbitrator appointments and rising focus on emerging arbitration hubs.

Recent Commercial Court judgment provides further clarity on these frequently argued points (Alimov v Mirakhmedov & Ors (Rev1) [2024] EWHC 3322 (Comm)).

The High Court dismissed Fabrizio D'Aloia's claim against crypto exchange Bitkub, highlighting critical lessons for victims of crypto fraud and practitioners. The ruling underscored the need for robust tracing evidence, crypto exchanges' responsibilities for KYC/AML compliance, and clarified USDT's legal status as property, providing guidance on liability and asset recovery in cross-jurisdictional crypto cases.

On 1 July 2025, the Hague Judgments Convention came into force in the UK, applying to proceedings commenced after that date. Its objective is to streamline the global recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments...

Recent case law developments post-Sequana [2022] UKSC 25 have clarified aspects of directors' Creditor Duty, particularly on requisite knowledge, probability of insolvency, treatment of creditors, and conditions for legal action. Courts emphasize factual scrutiny and evolving common law principles in these assessments.

In 2023, key arbitral institutions reported increased arbitration use, rising international participation, a trend toward "younger" agreements, and notable improvements in gender diversity among appointed arbitrators.

In a recent judgment, the New Zealand Court of Appeal ("the Court") has signaled a possible change of approach in relation to the exercise of contractual discretions.