Ekaterina Sjostrand analyses the main principles of the jurisdiction of English courts in Russia/CIS related disputes
England having become a popular dispute resolution forum for Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) related cases in the past decade or so, the High Court in London has seen an influx of various matters connected, one way or another, to the former Soviet states. In many such cases, it is the origin of the actual parties which bears this connection, and/or the origin of the assets at the heart of the dispute, and/or the origin of the ultimate owners of the assets. In different “scenarios” different conflict of laws rules will apply as regards the courts’ jurisdiction.
The most significant cases giving rise to landmark decisions involved the famous “oligarchs”. In almost all of them challenges to jurisdiction of English Courts ended up in long fierce legal battles. They dealt with various difficult legal issues such as personal service, domicile, criteria for grant of permission to serve out of jurisdiction including “forum conveniens”.
Domicile and residence
If the nature of a dispute
