Otkritie International Investment Management Ltd and others v Urumov [2014] EWHC 1323 (Comm), [2014] All ER (D) 80 (May)
It was clear from the authorities that apparent bias was not demonstrated by the mere fact that a judge, earlier in the same case or a previous case, had commented adversely on a party or a witness, or found the evidence of a party or witness to be unreliable. The fact that the judge had expressed himself, in part, in clear terms would not necessarily justify any different conclusion. As to the question of “overlap” or “identity of issue”, although “identity of issue” was a test easier to apply than “analogy” or “overlap”, absolute identity would lead in the direction of issue estoppel (at least in civil matters) and would not matter. In any event, the judge’s findings were part of the res gestae of the proceedings which would need to be considered anyway for any relevance in the context of any committal proceedings.
