ENGLAND & WALES Law and Practice Contributed by: Damian Taylor, Olga Ladrowska, Lawal Ijaodola and Eleanor Higginson, Slaughter and May
• freezing injunctions (restricting dealings with assets); • search orders (permitting a search of prop- erty); • anti-suit injunctions (restraining foreign legal proceedings); and • proprietary injunctions (protecting property and trust assets). Injunctions are granted at the court’s discretion where it is “just and convenient” to do so. 6.2 Arrangements for Obtaining Urgent Injunctive Relief Injunctive relief can be obtained relatively quick- ly, especially in urgent circumstances where a litigant believes that immediate action is neces- sary to prevent irreparable harm. The High Court has a system of out-of-hours judges who are available to consider urgent applications when the court is not in session. This typically includes evenings, weekends and public holidays. The applicant may be required to submit their appli- cation via telephone or in writing, detailing the grounds for the injunction and the urgency of the matter. The judge will then review the application and make a decision, often very quickly – some- times within hours. 6.3 Availability of Injunctive Relief on an Ex Parte Basis Injunctive relief can, in very limited circumstanc- es, be granted on an ex parte basis (ie, without notice to the respondent) – eg, in urgent situa- tions where notifying the other party may risk causing irreparable harm or undermining the purpose of the injunction. This might apply in relation to an application to freeze an asset that is on the verge of being removed from the juris- diction.
A party applying for injunctive relief on an ex parte basis must meet certain criteria, such as providing full and frank disclosure to the court. Orders made on an ex parte basis typically have a short lifespan, as the court will promptly schedule a subsequent hearing to allow both
parties to present their arguments. 6.4 Liability for Damages for the Applicant
An applicant may be held liable for damage suf- fered by the respondent if the respondent suc- cessfully discharges the injunction, regardless of whether it was obtained after notice to the other party or on an ex parte basis. Subject to some limited exceptions, the court will require an undertaking in damages when it grants an interim injunction. The purpose of the undertaking is to provide a safeguard for the respondent who may be unjustifiably prevented from doing something they were entitled to do. An applicant may sometimes be required to “fortify the undertaking”, including by providing security or by requiring another person to honour the undertaking. 6.5 Respondent’s Worldwide Assets and Injunctive Relief In some limited circumstances, injunctive relief, such as freezing orders, can be granted against the worldwide assets of the respondent. These orders aim to prevent the respondent from dis- sipating their assets. However, the enforcement of such orders outside England and Wales will depend on the domestic laws of the jurisdiction where the assets subject to the injunction are located. 6.6 Third Parties and Injunctive Relief Injunctive relief may be obtained against third parties in certain circumstances, provided that
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