Anti-Suit Injunctions Live To See Another Day (At Least Outside The EU)

A party to London arbitration proceedings recently sought to outflank the jurisdiction of the English court, the supervisory court of the arbitration, by pursuing court proceedings in Delhi. The English Commercial Court has however blocked this attempt in its decision in Shashoua & Others v Sharma,¹ by granting an anti-suit injunction which prevents the party from pursuing the matter in India. In doing so the English court has confirmed that it still has the power to grant anti-suit injunctions in relation to proceedings outside the EU notwithstanding the recent decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in West Tankers².

Anti-Suit Injunction (ASI)

An ASI is a court order restraining a party from bringing or continuing foreign court proceedings in breach of an exclusive jurisdiction clause or arbitration agreement. ASIs are not issued against the foreign court in question, only against the parties bringing proceedings there. ASIs are largely a common