It has long been held that the English court has power to grant a freezing injunction against a third party (against whom no claim lay), provided that it is ancillary and incidental to a good arguable claim against a defendant (TSB Private Bank International SA v Chabra [1992] 2 All ER 245). Such relief, known as the 'Chabra jurisdiction', is typically exercised against a third party who holds or controls assets beneficially owned by a defendant.
However, in Yukos Capital Sarl v OJSC Rosneft Oil Co [2010] EWHC 784 (Comm), David Steel J invoked the Chabra jurisdiction against certain third parties who held assets in respect of which a defendant had no proprietary interest, but exercised substantive control. Click here to read our e-bulletin on this case.
Location