Case C-159/02
Gregory Paul Turner
v
Felix Fareed Ismail Grovit and Others
(Reference for a preliminary ruling from the House of Lords)
(Brussels Convention – Proceedings brought in a Contracting State – Proceedings brought in another Contracting State by the defendant in the existing proceedings – Defendant acting in bad faith in order to frustrate the existing proceedings – Compatibility with the Brussels Convention of the grant of an injunction preventing the defendant from continuing the action in another Member State)
Summary of the Judgment
Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments – Injunction granted by a court of a Contracting State prohibiting a party from commencing or continuing legal proceedings before a court in another Contracting State – Not permissible – Incompatible with the principle of mutual cooperation underlying the Convention
(Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968)
The Convention of 27 September 1968 on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters, as amended by the Convention of 9 October 1978 on the Accession of the Kingdom of Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, by the Convention of 25 October 1982 on the Accession of the Hellenic Republic and by the Convention of 26 May 1989 on the Accession of the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic, is to be interpreted as precluding the grant of an injunction whereby a court of a Contracting State prohibits a party to proceedings pending before it from commencing or continuing legal proceedings before a court of another Contracting State, even where that party is acting in bad faith with a view to frustrating the existing proceedings.
Such an injunction constitutes interference with the jurisdiction of the foreign court which, as such, is incompatible with the system of the Convention. That interference cannot be justified by the fact that it is only indirect and is intended to prevent an abuse of process by the party concerned, because the judgment made as to the abusive nature of that conduct implies an assessment of the appropriateness of bringing proceedings before a court of another Member State, which runs counter to the principle of mutual trust which underpins the Convention and prohibits a court, except in special cases occurring only at the stage of the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, from reviewing the jurisdiction of the court of another Member State.
(see paras 26-28, 31, operative part)