The recent decision of the Court of Appeal (the Court) in Deutsche Bank v Ruschemalliance LLC [2023] EWCA Civ 1144 (Deutsche Bank) confirms the strong interest in favour of granting anti-suit relief to hold parties to their arbitration agreements, even where the seat of arbitration is in a jurisdiction that does not itself provide for anti-suit injunctions (ASIs).  In this case, anti-suit relief against proceedings issued in Russia was granted in circumstances where the relevant contract contained an agreement to arbitrate disputes in Paris. The Court considered that England was the proper forum for the anti-suit application, and that an anti-suit injunction was appropriate, because French courts do not grant ASIs.

The case is timely as it comes against the backdrop of a number of disputes about forum and choice of law in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  Agreements have increasingly broken down following implementation of US and European sanctions.  There have been a number of consequential disputes over where to litigate – in Russia (as the Russian entity may prefer) or according to the contract’s specified forum.  Paris is one of the most popular ‘neutral’ forums for dispute resolution, including in contracts with Russian counterparties.  However, if

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