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Freezing orders in court

22 November 2024 / Mary Young , Charlotte Dormon
Issue: 8095 / Categories: Features , Freezing orders
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Even after five decades of freezing injunctions, the courts are still regularly asked to clarify the law: Mary Young & Charlotte Dormon round up this year’s causes of confusion
  • 2024 has seen a number of cases concerning freezing injunctions in the courts.
  • These have dealt with, among other issues, the correct test of a ‘good arguable case’, the duty to provide full and frank disclosure, and what events might trigger the expiration of a freezing order.

In 2025, the freezing injunction will celebrate its 50th anniversary. While it is a well-established part of the asset recovery specialist’s arsenal, the decisions of 2024 demonstrate that this remains an interesting and developing area of law.

Locus for an order

In August 2024, the Court of Appeal considered whether to uphold a first instance decision setting aside a freezing order made to support foreign (Scottish) proceedings.

Section 25 of the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 (CJJA 1982) permits interim relief to be granted in support of foreign proceedings provided that

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Muckle LLP—Phoebe Gogarty

Muckle LLP—Phoebe Gogarty

North East firm welcomes employment specialist

Browne Jacobson—Colette Withey

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Ellisons—Lizzy Firmin

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NEWS
Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys [2025] EWHC 2341 (KB) has restated a fundamental truth, writes John Gould, chair of Russell-Cooke, in this week's NLJ: only authorised persons can conduct litigation. The decision sparked alarm, but Gould stresses it merely confirms the Legal Services Act 2007
The government’s decision to make the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) the Single Professional Services Supervisor marks a watershed in the UK’s fight against money laundering, says Rebecca Hughes of Corker Binning in this week's NLJ. The FCA will now oversee 60,000 firms across legal and accountancy sectors—a massive expansion of remit that raises questions over resources and readiness 
The High Court's decision in Parfitt v Jones [2025] EWHC 1552 (Ch) provided a striking reminder of the need to instruct the right expert in retrospective capacity assessments, says Ann Stanyer of Wedlake Bell in NLJ this week
Paige Coulter of Quinn Emanuel reports on the UK’s first statutory definition of SLAPPs under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023in NLJ this week
In this week's NLJ, Sophie Houghton of LexisPSL distils the key lesson from recent costs cases: if you want to exceed guideline hourly rates (GHR), you must prove why
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