BVI Commercial Court provides guidance on the place of
incorporation as a factor when deciding a "forum non
conveniens" application.
Walkers has recently acted for Applicants which successfully
challenged forum in favour of the Russian courts. The Claimants
unsuccessfully relied on the parties' jurisdiction of
incorporation as a factor determining the appropriate forum for
their claim.
The claim was a derivative action brought under Russian law on
behalf of a Russian company which sought damages following alleged
breaches of Russian corporate legislation. The four
Applicants were companies incorporated in the BVI and of the other
Defendants, one was a company incorporated in Cyprus, one was a
company incorporated in Russia, and one was a Russian
national.
It was argued by the Claimants that the facts and circumstances of
the claim were truly international and it could therefore not be
said that Russia was clearly the more appropriate jurisdiction for
the resolution of the dispute. The Claimants argued that the fact
that four of the Defendants were incorporated in the BVI was a
deciding factor. The Applicants in turn argued that the only
connection between the claim and the BVI was the place of
incorporation of some, but not all, of the Defendants.
Justice Bannister QC went on to hold that in circumstances where
the claim involved alleged breaches of Russian legislation and the
alleged individual wrongdoers were Russian, Russia was clearly the
appropriate forum for the determination of the claim. The
Court held that the mere fact that some of the Defendants were
companies incorporated in the BVI was not sufficient to displace
this conclusion.
Partner Oliver Clifton and associates Grant Carroll and Matthew
Neal based in Walkers' BVI office acted in this matter
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