SRS Middle East FZE v Chemie Tech DMCC (Rev 1) [2020] EWHC 2904 (Comm)

Riaz Hussain QC was instructed by Taylor Wessing for the Defendant in SRS Middle East FZE v Chemie Tech DMCC (Rev 1) [2020] EWHC 2904 (Comm) (02 November 2020).

This an important judgment regarding the entitlement to interim relief in a foreign court when the Parties’ contract contains an arbitration agreement with a London seat.

Andrew Baker J held that (1) steps taken to preserve security for a claim would not be injuncted as a breach of an arbitration agreement. He held that this broader principle gleaned from admiralty cases allowing proceedings to preserve the arrest of vessels ostensibly in breach of an arbitration agreement applies to general commercial cases (2) although he did not need to consider the point, Baker J took the view that the Defendant had a serious case that, given Sharjah Courts have a much broader remit to restrain calls on a bond, equivalent relief was not available from the English Courts or an emergency arbitrator and the Defendant validly sought relief from the UAE Courts.

Alongside his international arbitration practice, Riaz Hussain QC is able to assist on all matters relating to anti-suit injunctions and arbitration business in the Commercial Court and the TCC.

Riaz Hussain QC (instructed by Taylor Wessing LLP) for the Defendant

2 November 2020