Notes on the EUCJ’s ruling inGazprom:West Tankersis unaffected and anti-suit injunctions issued by arbitral tribunals are not governed by EU Regulation 44/2001

Abstract

On 13 May 2015 the Grand Chamber 1 of the Court of Justice of the European Union (hereafter the ‘Court’ or ‘EUCJ’) provided a preliminary interpretative ruling (Case C-536/13) 2 on the Council Regulation (EC) 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters and with regard to an anti-suit injunction issued by an arbitral tribunal, in connection with the Gazprom OAO proceedings before Lithuanian courts. Those who are not satisfied with the Court’s ruling in the West Tankers case in 2009 hoped perhaps that this new ruling would change, and improve, the status of anti-suit injunctions in the EU. However, such hope was doomed to fail in view of the different context and questions that the Court had to deal with in relation to the Gazprom case. Prompt reporting of events or breaking news is common place nowadays. Such practice reduces significantly the time needed for reflection and proper coverage of the event. The ruling in Gazprom also prompted some immediate reports on line. One of these reads: ECJ allows anti-suit injunctions by arbitrators. In an eagerly awaited ruling, the European Court of Justice has held that anti-suit injunctions issued by arbitral tribunals are not prohibited by the Brussels I Regulation – but practitioners hoping that the court would reconsider its controversial decision in West Tankers will have to wait. 3