Legal news
The Court of Appeal has ruled that foreign directors may be examined in English courts under Pt 71 of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR). How their attendance can be guaranteed is, however, another matter say lawyers.
The judgment is the latest in a long-running saga involving a right to a share in a Yemeni oil concession.
In Masri v Consolidated Contractors International Co SAL and another, the Court of Appeal held that the power under CPR 71 to require the director of a judgment debtor company to attend court to be examined regarding the company’s assets, applied whether a director is domiciled in the UK or abroad, including in another EU state.
Stephen Acton, a barrister at Radcliffe Chambers, says that how the order to attend court can be enforced is still unclear.
“The decision raises obvious questions as to the enforcement of such an order, in particular by an application to commit for contempt of court, which is one of the reasons why the Master would have lef t the claimant to proceed in Greece under the relevant EC Evidence Regulation.
“No doubt this will provide the next round in this longrunning saga,” he says.
Acton suggests that there may be limits to the use of Pt 7. “The court of appeal held, on its plain wording, that r 71.2(1)(b) did not apply to a director of a corporate director of the judgment debtor.
“This meant that an order under the rule could not be made against such a foreign director (so that in the result this decision was a one-all scoring draw) but this part of the decision is of general application,” he says.
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