Case digest and legal research library.

The Supreme Court held that a qualifying unrecognised and unregistrable foreign judgment creates an obligation to pay which can constitute a debt for the purposes of section 267 of the Insolvency Act 1986.

The Supreme Court held that regulation 28(3)(c) of the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 prohibited payments under the letters of credit until licences were obtained and interpreted “in connection with” as requiring a factual connection.

The BVI Commercial Court applied the then-current Court of Appeal reasoning in Servis-Terminal v Drelle when considering whether an unrecognised foreign judgment could support a statutory demand. The later UK Supreme Court decision in Drelle should be read alongside this digest.

The Court of Appeal held that the court has power under section 42 of the Arbitration Act 1996 to enforce a tribunal’s peremptory order for anti-suit relief.

The Court of Appeal held that an unlimited amendment clause was repugnant to the requirement for a final and binding award and could not be saved by section 57 of the Arbitration Act 1996.

The Supreme Court held, by a majority, that no statutory limitation period applies to petitions under section 994 of the Companies Act 2006.

The Privy Council held that fraudulent misrepresentation does not impose a separate legal requirement that the claimant was aware of and understood the representation when it was made.

The Supreme Court held that a person purporting to exercise a director’s powers can owe fiduciary duties and addressed the valuation date and causation principles governing equitable compensation.

The High Court found a transaction at an undervalue under section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 but exceptionally declined to grant relief after considering all the circumstances.

The High Court held that an unauthorised person cannot conduct litigation merely because they are employed and supervised by an authorised person; they must be authorised or fall within an exemption.

The Court of Appeal held that liability insurance proceeds received by an insolvent company are not held on trust for third-party claimants to whom the company owes the insured liability.

The Practice Statement is directed to early identification and active case management of contested issues in Part 26 schemes and Part 26A restructuring plans.

The Privy Council declined to approve remuneration because the liquidators had not supplied enough task and staffing analysis to show that the work was reasonably undertaken.

The Court of Appeal held that the section 172 duty to act in good faith includes an obligation to act honestly towards the company and addressed prejudice and the remedial discretion under section 996.

The Court of Appeal held that the Luxembourg sub-fund was not an unregistered company within section 220 of the Insolvency Act 1986 and could not be wound up under section 221.

The High Court granted worldwide freezing and proprietary injunctions in liquidators’ misfeasance proceedings and considered whether their cross-undertaking in damages should be capped.

The Privy Council held that the shareholder rule has no sound legal foundation and, by a Willers v Joyce direction, should no longer be applied in England and Wales.

The High Court dismissed a stay application, applying the principle that a dispute-resolution clause in a settlement or termination agreement will generally supersede a different clause in an earlier agreement.

The Supreme Court endorsed a bright-line approach for deciding when a lender is put on inquiry in a non-commercial hybrid loan transaction.

The Commercial Court applied the limits of modified universalism identified in Kireeva and held that foreign bankruptcy proceedings could not determine rights in immovable property outside their jurisdiction.

The Supreme Court declined to introduce a counterfactual “but for” defence to the fiduciary profit rule and retained the established approach to an account of profits.

The Court of Appeal clarified how contractual fair-value provisions in articles of association should be construed and dismissed the appeal.

The Court of Appeal held that entering into a transaction to ensure that a liability does not accrue does not, without more, involve a prohibited purpose under section 423(3) of the Insolvency Act 1986.

The Supreme Court held that section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 can apply where a debtor procures a company he owns to transfer an asset for no consideration or at an undervalue.

The High Court addressed HMRC’s power under section 85 of the Finance Act 2022 and confirmed that public-law defences may be considered by the Companies Court hearing the winding-up petition.

The Court of Appeal held that an unrecognised foreign judgment could not found an English bankruptcy petition. That conclusion was later reversed by the Supreme Court in Drelle v Servis-Terminal LLC [2026] UKSC 29.

The High Court considered the threshold for interim anti-suit relief, the applicant’s duty of full and frank disclosure and whether the injunction should continue in a narrower form.

The Supreme Court held that the common-law immovables rule prevents a foreign bankruptcy from affecting title to English land. Modified universalism remains subject to local law and public policy.