Insolvency

The High Court had held that, pursuant to s 426 of the Insolvency Act 1986, it did not have jurisdiction to make an order to “assist” a foreign court which was not actually doing anything in its insolvency jurisdiction: the English court was not being asked to assist the Royal Court of Jersey in any endeavour; it was being asked to provide insolvency proceedings in lieu of any Jersey insolvency proceedings. Consequently, the jurisdictional threshold in s 426 was not crossed. In allowing the appeal, the Court of Appeal held that s 426(4) was not, by its actual working, applicable only to courts exercising jurisdiction in relation to insolvency law; it was applicable to courts having jurisdiction, or the corresponding jurisdiction, in insolvency law. Under established authorities, s 426(4) and (5) were to be given a broad interpretation.