His Excellency Sheikh Khalid & Ors v His Excellency Sheikh Hamed Bin Ahmed Al Hamed & Anor
[2024] EWHC 2448 (Comm)
The Ali Abdullah Alesayi Will Establishment v Hashim Ali Alesayi
8 December 2023
[2023] EWHC 3150 (Ch)
High Court
A company from Saudi Arabia tried to sue in England over an inheritance without proper legal permission. English law requires special permission to sue on behalf of someone who has died. Because the company didn't have this permission, the lawsuit was thrown out.
Key Facts
- •The claimant, The Ali Abdullah Alesayi Will Establishment (a Saudi Arabian entity), sued the defendant, Hashim Ali Alesayi (resident in England), regarding the distribution of assets from the estate of Ali Abdullah Ali Alesayi.
- •The claimant lacked a grant of representation in England.
- •The claim involved alleged breaches of an oral agreement (Holding and Transfer Agreement), breaches of guardianship duties, unjust enrichment, and declarations regarding the ownership of assets held by three overseas companies.
- •The Saudi Arabian Probate Order granted powers to Mr. Mohammed Ali Alesayi (defendant's brother) to manage the assets and pursue legal proceedings on the claimant's behalf.
Legal Principles
A person has no standing to sue in English courts as an administrator before obtaining letters of administration; proceedings initiated earlier are nullities.
Jennison v Jennison [2023] Ch 225 at [18]
A foreign representative must obtain an English grant of representation to sue in England; foreign authority has no operation in England.
Dicey, Morris and Collins, The Conflict of Laws, 16th edn at 27-036
Claims to property in England can only be advanced by a properly constituted personal representative.
High Commissioner for Pakistan in the United Kingdom v National Westminster Bank plc [2015] EWHC 3052 (Ch) at [28]–[30]
Claims brought before asset distribution relate to estate administration, requiring an English grant for heirs to sue.
Viegas v Cutrale [2023] EWHC 1896 (Comm) at [198]
Claims commenced by a purported administrator (not executor) without a grant are incurable nullities, except possibly where a limitation period has expired.
Jogie v Sealy [2022] UKPC 32 at [41]–[55], [122]–[124]
Proceedings by a named executor before obtaining probate are not nullities; they can continue until probate is required.
Williams, Mortimer and Sunnucks, Executors, Administrators and Probate, 22nd edn at 5-10
The question of whether a claimant obtained title to a deceased's cause of action is characterised as a matter of estate administration, governed by English law.
Jennison v Jennison at [50]
Outcomes
The claim was struck out.
The claimant lacked standing to pursue the claim as it was brought in a representative capacity without a grant of representation in England. All causes of action were deemed to relate to the administration of the estate, not personal claims.
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