The Public Institution for Social Security v Al Rajaan & others

On 26 January, the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in The Public Institution for Social Security v Al Rajaan & others [2022] EWCA Civ 29.  The Court dismissed the Claimant’s appeal, which was heard over three days in December 2021, and confirmed that the English court has no jurisdiction to hear bribery and money-laundering claims against a number of Swiss-domiciled individuals and entities. 

The case is one of the largest fraud disputes ever heard in the Commercial Court and featured in The Lawyer’s Top 20 cases of 2020. The Court of Appeal decided entirely novel points on establishing jurisdiction under Article 6 of the Lugano Convention where there are (i) overlapping claims against the same defendant, some of which must be considered in that defendant’s state of domicile pursuant to an exclusive jurisdiction clause falling within Article 23 of the Convention, and (ii) connected claims against another defendant.

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Jonathan Adkin QC and Charlotte Beynon acted for the Fourth Defendant instructed by Peters & Peters.

Philip Marshall QC and Simon Hattan acted for the Fifth Defendant instructed by Eversheds.