Key Facts
- •The M/T Prestige sank in 2002, causing significant oil pollution.
- •Spain brought civil claims against the vessel's owners and the London Steam-Ship Owners' Mutual Insurance Association Limited ('the Club').
- •The Club argued that Spain was bound by an arbitration clause in the Club's Rules.
- •Arbitration proceedings (the Schaff Arbitration) ensued, resulting in an award favourable to the Club.
- •Spain challenged the Schaff Award's enforcement in English courts.
- •The English courts upheld the enforcement of the Schaff Award.
- •Spain subsequently obtained a judgment in Spanish courts against the Club.
- •The Club appealed the enforcement of the Spanish judgment in England, raising irreconcilability, res judicata, and human rights grounds.
- •A preliminary reference was made to the CJEU, which delivered a judgment impacting the case.
- •Further arbitration proceedings (before Sir Peter Gross) were initiated.
- •Spain challenged Sir Peter Gross's awards, leading to the current proceedings.
Legal Principles
Brussels Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 44/2001) - Article 34(1): Recognition of a judgment shall not be refused if such recognition is manifestly contrary to public policy in the Member State in which recognition is sought.
Regulation (EC) No 44/2001
Brussels Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 44/2001) - Article 34(3): A judgment shall not be recognised if it is irreconcilable with a judgment given in a dispute between the same parties in the Member State in which recognition is sought.
Regulation (EC) No 44/2001
Arbitration Act 1996 - Section 66: Enforcement of arbitral awards as judgments.
Arbitration Act 1996
Arbitration Act 1996 - Section 67: Setting aside arbitral awards.
Arbitration Act 1996
Arbitration Act 1996 - Section 69: Appeal on points of law.
Arbitration Act 1996
State Immunity Act 1978 - Section 13: Restrictions on relief against a State.
State Immunity Act 1978
Res Judicata: The principle that a matter already judged cannot be relitigated.
English common law
Article 267 TFEU: Preliminary rulings on the interpretation of EU law.
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
Outcomes
The Club's appeal against the registration of the Spanish judgment succeeds.
The Spanish judgment is irreconcilable with the earlier English judgments enforcing the arbitral award, and/or its recognition would be contrary to English public policy on res judicata.
Spain's challenge to Sir Peter Gross's first partial award under section 67 of the Arbitration Act 1996 is dismissed.
The Court of Appeal has already definitively determined that Sir Peter Gross had jurisdiction.
Permission to appeal is granted on certain points under section 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 but the appeal is subsequently dismissed.
While the questions were of general public importance, Sir Peter Gross's conclusions were not obviously wrong and, in the relevant part, were not open to serious doubt.
Sir Peter Gross did not have jurisdiction to grant an injunction against Spain.
Section 13(2) of the State Immunity Act 1978 removes the court's jurisdiction to grant injunctions against states without consent; therefore, arbitrators, having only the 'same powers' as the court under section 48(5) of the Arbitration Act 1996, lack this power.