Guidelines for enforcement of worldwide freezing orders: An analysis

Abstract

The granting of interlocutory injunctions prohibiting the disposal of assets by a defendant was originally regarded to be contrary to the judicial practice in England, but this changed in 1975 when the Nippon Yusen Kaisha case was considered by the English courts. In the same year, the Court of Appeal in Mareva Compania Naviera coined the term Mareva injunction for such prohibitory orders. These orders are currently known as freezing orders. These interlocutory injunctions have been granted on a discretionary basis. Each judgment has been based on a discretion justified by reference to the facts of the case. But, in 2006 in the Dadourian Group International case, the Court of Appeal decided to offer guidelines on how courts should exercise discretion to enforce worldwide freezing orders abroad. The Court of Appeal, however, made it clear that these guidelines must not be treated as exclusive and that each case must be considered on its own merits. The court developed eight guidelines in this regard.