UK Commercial Court Archives - EURO LIT INSIGHTS

When Arbitration Secrets Cross Continental Divides: The Commercial Court’s Latest Take on Confidentiality

by Campbell Herbert | Jun 25, 2025 | Arbitration, Court Judgment, United Kingdom

In the world of arbitration, where the same cast of characters regularly appears on different stages, the question of who knows what – and who can tell whom – has always been deliciously complex. The Commercial Court’s recent decision in A Corporation v. Firm B and another [2025] EWHC 1092 (Comm) serves up a masterclass in navigating these treacherous waters, with Mr Justice Foxton at the helm delivering a judgment that manages to be both pragmatic and principled.

Two Vessels and Too Many Lawyers

Picture this: A law firm, Firm B, with offices spanning continents, finds itself in the middle of a confidentiality conundrum. The London office had acted for B Corporation in a dispute about Vessel 1, which settled nicely. The firm’s Asia office was representing C Corporation in a separate arbitration about Vessel 2. The plot thickens when we learn that the opposing parties in these arbitrations – A Corporation and D Corporation, respectively – are corporate siblings, having a common beneficial owner.

A Corporation, sensing danger, sought injunctions faster than you can say “information barrier”. A’s concern? That confidential nuggets from the Vessel 1 arbitration might find their way into the Vessel 2 proceedings, giving C

What a Cargo of Wheat Can Teach Us About Jurisdiction, Justice, and the Art of Drafting Contracts

by Campbell Herbert | Jun 25, 2025 | Arbitration, Court Judgment, United Kingdom

In the pantheon of arbitration appeals, achieving success under sections 67, 68, and 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 in a single case is rather like scoring a hat-trick in a World Cup final – theoretically possible but rarely achieved. Yet this is precisely what CAFI Commodity & Freight Integrators DMCC (CAFI) managed in its recent victory against GTCS Trading DMCC (GTCS).

The decision in CAFI v. GTCS Trading, EWHC 1350 (Comm) (2025) offers a masterclass in how arbitration can go spectacularly wrong when tribunals tie themselves in jurisdictional knots, and how the Commercial Court can untangle even the most byzantine of procedural tangles. More importantly for commercial parties, it provides welcome clarity on when disputes can span multiple contracts – and why arbitrators cannot simply blind themselves to inconvenient contractual provisions.

A Tale of Two Contracts (and Some Sanctions)

As so many modern commercial disputes do, our story begins with the inconvenient incursion of geopolitics upon the noble pursuit of profit.

GTCS agreed to sell CAFI 28,000 metric tonnes of Russian milling wheat at a rate of US$465 per tonne under a contract concluded in March 2022. The timing, one might observe, was not ideal. With US sanctions

Commercial Court Orders Disclosure in Wake of Fraud Summary Judgment

by Jack Thorne and Jonathan Robb | May 22, 2024 | Court Judgment, United Kingdom

In the case of Lowry Trading Limited and anor v Musicalize and ors [2024] EWHC 773 (Comm),[1] the Commercial Court demonstrated its willingness to use the various tools at its disposal to compel disclosure and/or the provision of information, particularly where there is a subtext of fraud.

Background

The Claimants operate investment businesses. They claim that Mr and Mrs Anderson (the Second and Third Defendants), acting through various limited companies (the other Defendants), made various false representations as purported concert promoters in order to obtain investment from them. In pursuing recovery of their investments, the Claimants allege claims in: deceit; unlawful means conspiracy; breach of contract; inducement of breach of contract; and breach of trust, as well as claims pursuant to certain guarantees.

On 21 October 2021, the Court granted freezing injunctions against the First, Fourth and Fifth Defendants preventing them from dealing with or disposing of assets outside of the ordinary and proper course of business (the Injunctions). The Injunctions further required the Defendants to notify the Claimants before dealing with or disposing of assets purportedly inside the ordinary and proper course of business, which notice requirements form the basis of the Claim ants’ present application.

On

Collateral Waiver: When Voluntary Disclosure Has Unintended Consequences

by Jack Thorne and Jonathan Robb | May 22, 2024 | Court Judgment, United Kingdom

In Alexander Gorbachev v Andrey Grigoryevich Guriev [2024] EWHC 622,[1] the Commercial Court held that the claimant’s voluntary disclosure of a privileged chronology originally produced by its barrister gave rise to a collateral waiver of: (i) an updated draft of that chronology; as well as (ii) all documents containing, recording or otherwise evidencing the claimant’s instructions in respect of the chronology.

Background

The underlying proceedings concern a long-running £1 billion dispute between Mr Gorbachev (the Claimant) and Mr Guriev (the Defendant) concerning their interests in a Russia-based fertiliser company, PJSC PhosAgro.

Back in October 2012, the Claimant instructed a barrister (Mr Fitzgerald), who prepared a chronology of events (the Original Chronology) based on information given to him by the Claimant at meetings and over the telephone. Later, on 21 January 2013, the Claimant instructed solicitors, around which time Mr Fitzgerald provided the solicitors with the Original Chronology, which he then subsequently revised on 5 February 2013 (the Revised Chronology). It appears not to have been disputed in the present application that both the Original Chronology and the Revised Chronology attracted legal professional privilege.

Some almost 10 years later, the Claimant voluntarily disclosed the Original Chronology to the