ENGLAND & WALES Trends and Developments Contributed by: James Lynch, Maltin PR
the English courts, and that disclosing the name of the firm was “a necessary and proportionate response to this serious wrongdoing”. The English courts also played host to, and resolved, a long-running dispute in the crypto- currency space. The case centred on whether or not Dr Craig Wright is “Satoshi Nakamoto”, the inventor of Bitcoin. The Crypto Open Patent Alli- ance (COPA) was seeking a declaration from the court that Dr Wright did not pen the Bitcoin White Paper, a 2008 document that served as the foun- dation of Bitcoin and, by extension, numerous other cryptocurrencies. Other cases hung on the judgment in this matter, with Dr Wright seeking to litigate against a number of companies that he claimed had infringed his intellectual property by developing Bitcoin. Immediately after the conclusion of a five-week trial, Mr Justice Mellor ruled that “Dr Wright is not the person who adopted or operated under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto”, before handing down a full written judgment two months later. While rare, the decision to provide an ex tempore judgment reflected both the seriousness of the case and the wider implications of the decla- ration sought, as well as the nature of the evi- dence against Dr Wright, which Mr Justice Mel- lor referred to as “overwhelming”. Following the hand-down of his written judgment, Dr Wright’s actions were referred to the Crown Prosecution Service by the judge, based on his having com- mitted “a most serious abuse” of the court pro- cesses in the “UK, Norway and the USA”. A further major case has been the jurisdiction- al dispute in a billion-pound aviation litigation emerging from planes being stranded in Rus- sia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Despite aircraft insurers having clauses in their contracts requiring any disputes with air-
craft lessors to be litigated in Russia, the Eng- lish courts held that it would be inappropriate to stay the proceedings so that these clauses could be adhered to. In a judgment over 500 paragraphs long, Mr Justice Henshaw found that the claimants were “very unlikely to obtain a fair trial in Russia”, that there was a “far greater risk of inconsistent findings on fundamental issues” and an “inevitability of increased multiplicity of proceedings”. By contrast, in separate proceedings relating to aircraft stranded in Ukraine, Mr Justice Henshaw found that the exclusive jurisdiction clauses relating to Ukraine should stand. The analysis undertaken and balancing tests applied in such cases remain a powerful draw for litigants in the jurisdiction. With few exceptions relating to mat- ters of public policy, English courts undertake careful and considered factual analysis to ensure that justice is done. As a result, the cases will now proceed in the jurisdiction where justice is most likely to be served, this taken by the court as more important than a strict adherence to the terms of a contract. Reputation and Litigation The public nature of litigation in England and Wales, unless ordered otherwise, can create major reputational concerns for any litigants. With the prevalence of litigants that are based outside the jurisdiction and have a public profile, this can present a challenge to a company repu- tation. Publicly listed companies, in particular, are vulnerable to information emerging during the course of litigation. Share prices are poten- tially at risk should potentially compromising material or allegations be aired in open court. The absolute privilege afforded to journalists to report on live proceedings in the courtroom, and on materials filed in legal documents, can result
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