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22 November 2024 / Mary Young , Charlotte Dormon
Issue: 8095 / Categories: Features , Freezing orders
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Freezing orders in court

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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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NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
The winners of the LexisNexis Legal Awards 2026 have now been announced, marking another outstanding celebration of excellence, innovation, and impact across the legal profession
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
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