[2025] EWHC 2485 (Ch)

The rules which prescribe the procedure for disputing the jurisdiction of the English court are set out in CPR Part 11. The relevant rules are as follows:

“(1)

A defendant who wishes to –

(a)

dispute the court’s jurisdiction to try the claim; or

(b)

argue that the court should not exercise its jurisdiction

may apply to the court for an order declaring that it has no such jurisdiction or should not exercise any jurisdiction which it may have.

(2)

A defendant who wishes to make such an application must first file an acknowledgment of service in accordance with Part 10.

(3)

A defendant who files an acknowledgment of service does not, by doing so, lose any right that he may have to dispute the court’s jurisdiction.

(4)

An application under this rule must –

(a)

be made within 14 days after filing an acknowledgment of service; and

(b)

be supported by evidence.

(5)

If the defendant –

(a)

files an acknowledgment of service; and

(b)

does not make such an application within the period specified in paragraph (4),

he is to be treated as having accepted that the court has jurisdiction to try the claim.

(6)

An order containing a declaration that the court has no jurisdiction or will not exercise its jurisdiction may also make further provision including –

(a)

setting aside the claim form;

(b)

setting aside service of the claim form;

(c)

discharging any order made before the claim was commenced or before the claim form was served; and

(d)

staying the proceedings.”

Accordingly, in order for Iftikhar to be able to challenge the jurisdiction of the English court, he must first file an acknowledgement of service (which expressly does not amount to a submission to the jurisdiction), and then must make his challenge application within 14 days of filing that acknowledgement. In fact, he filed his acknowledgement of service, and a notice of application to extend the 14-day deadline, on 9 December 2024. The 14 days expired on 23 December 2024, so his application to extend time is an “in-time” application.

His notice of application to challenge the jurisdiction is dated 24 January 2025, about a month out of time. If Iftikhar was validly served with the proceedings in 2021, then the time for acknowledging service has long expired, and he needs an extension of time to 9 December 2024 for filing the acknowledgement of service, as well as an extension of time for filing the challenge application. If on the other hand Iftikhar was not validly served with the proceedings in 2021, then time for filing an acknowledgement of service never started running, and so cannot have expired, and thus he needs no extension of time for that. But he still needs an extension of time for filing the challenge application.