Committal applications are almost becoming fashionable, says Sophia Purkis
Increasingly claimants are pleading fraud and using the sanctions available to the court to enforce compliance with orders and court rules in the hope that they will assist quicker resolution of their claims. There has recently been a noticeable increase in the number of reported applications for committal in civil claims; indeed following the well-publicised case of JSC BTA Bank v Ablyazov [2014] EWHC 455 (Comm), [2014] All ER (D) 275 (Feb), such applications would appear to have become almost fashionable.
Committal applications
Committal applications can be made for a variety of misdemeanours, such as for breach of a judgment, order or undertaking, contempt in the face of the court, making a false statement of truth and interference with the due administration of justice.
In fraud cases the majority of applications arise from the breach of freezing orders, for example by failing to comply with disclosure obligations or for seeking to put assets out of the claimant’s reach. Where the defendant is a company, committal orders can be made against the directors, officers and controlling
