BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Alex Hall Taylor KC, Richard Brown, Tim Wright and Simon Hall, Carey Olsen
A party will have to disclose, but may withhold inspection of, documents over which privilege or confidentiality is claimed or which are no longer in that party’s control. 6. Injunctive Relief 6.1 Circumstances of Injunctive Relief The BVI courts have a broad jurisdiction to grant injunctive relief when it is just and convenient to do so. That includes cases where injunctions are sought in support of foreign proceedings where there is no substantive claim in the jurisdiction. It is impossible to develop a full list of the types of injunctive relief available or the precise cir- cumstances in which the courts will grant any particular form of such relief. The types of injunctive relief that may be award- ed include the following: • freezing orders restraining a respondent from disposing or dealing with its assets where an applicant can show: (a) that it has a good arguable case on the merits of its underlying claim against the respondent; (b) that there is a real risk that, unless re - strained, the respondent will take steps to dissipate its assets to avoid the enforce- ment of any judgment against it; and (c) that it is just and convenient to grant the relief sought; orders may direct provision of information about the location of prop- erty or assets. • prohibitory injunctions restraining a respond- ent from acting in a particular way where it is shown: (a) that there is a serious question to be tried on the merits of its underlying claim against the respondent;
(b) that an award of damages would not be an adequate remedy; and (c) that, on the balance of convenience, it is just and convenient to grant the relief sought. • proprietary injunctions protecting property and trust assets, applying the same princi- ples as those applicable to the granting of a prohibitory injunction and where the appli- cant has a proprietary interest in the relevant asset; and • anti-suit injunctions restraining proceedings, including where parallel proceedings have been commenced in another jurisdiction where it is just and convenient to do so with the court weighing various factors depending on the circumstances of the case. The BVI courts may grant injunctive relief on an interim or final basis. 6.2 Arrangements for Obtaining Urgent Injunctive Relief The BVI Commercial Court, in particular, is used to dealing with applications for injunctive relief on an urgent basis. The Registry provides BVI legal practitioners with contact details for out- of-hours applications so that urgent applications can be dealt with as required. A certificate of urgency must be filed along with the application papers explaining why the mat- ter is urgent. During any court vacation period, a judge will be available to hear matters certified as suitable for vacation or urgent business. 6.3 Availability of Injunctive Relief on an Ex Parte Basis As a matter of principle, orders will not generally be made against a person without that person having had an opportunity to be heard. There are some exceptions, including extreme urgency
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