Conflict of laws

An English arbitration tribunal had granted an award in favour of the claimant against the first defendant, Unitech Ltd, for in excess of US$350m. The claimant obtained permission to join Unitech’s foreign subsidiaries to the proceedings and to serve an amended claim form seeking a worldwide freezing order against them out of the jurisdiction. The subsidiaries applied for an order for service outside the jurisdiction to be set aside. The Commercial Court, in granting the application, held that the English court had no jurisdiction over the subsidiaries. They could not be treated as having agreed to the supervisory jurisdiction of the English court merely by virtue of their status as subsidiaries.