Stuart Lunn v Antarctic Logistics Centre International (Pty) Ltd
[2023] EWHC 2856 (KB)
Stuart Lunn v Antarctic Logistics Centre International (Pty) Limited
28 June 2024
[2024] EWHC 1662 (KB)
High Court
A man was injured in Antarctica. He sued a South African company in an English court. The company argued the English court shouldn't hear the case. The judge decided that England was the right place for the trial because most witnesses were in England, and because the rules of international law didn't make another country more suitable. The judge refused to dismiss the claim.
Key Facts
- •Claimant, Mr. Stuart Lunn (British citizen, UK resident), sustained personal injuries in Antarctica on February 12, 2018, while working as a self-employed aircraft engineer.
- •The injury occurred when mobile stairs toppled over due to the proximity of another aircraft.
- •Defendant, Antarctic Logistics Centre International (Pty) Limited (South African company), was the occupier and operator of the Antarctic airstrip.
- •Claimant alleges negligence by the Defendant in managing air traffic control.
- •Defendant challenges the jurisdiction of the English courts.
- •The Claimant’s injuries resulted in ongoing symptoms whilst in the UK.
Legal Principles
Requirements for permission to serve a foreign defendant out of the jurisdiction (Altimo Holdings and Investment Ltd v Kyrgyz Mobil Tel Ltd)
Altimo Holdings and Investment Ltd v Kyrgyz Mobil Tel Ltd [2011] UKPC 7, [2012] 1 WLR 1804
Jurisdictional gateway: damage sustained within the jurisdiction (CPR PD6B, para 3.1(9); Brownlie v FS Cairo (Nile Paza) LLC)
CPR PD6B, para 3.1(9); Brownlie v FS Cairo (Nile Paza) LLC [2021] UKSC 45, [2022] AC 995
Applicable law in tort determined by Rome II Regulation (EC) 864/2007
Regulation (EC) 864/2007 (Rome II)
Merits test: serious issue to be tried / real prospect of success (CPR 6.37(1)(b); Altimo; Lungowe v Vedanta Resources plc)
CPR 6.37(1)(b); Altimo; Lungowe v Vedanta Resources plc [2019] UKSC 20; [2020] AC 1045
Forum conveniens: appropriate forum for trial (CPR 6.37(3); Altimo; Vedanta; Brownlie II)
CPR 6.37(3); Altimo; Vedanta; Brownlie II
"Default rule" and "presumption of similarity" in applying foreign law (Brownlie II)
Brownlie II
Full and frank disclosure in applications for permission to serve out of the jurisdiction
Re OJSC ANK Yugraneft v Sibr Energy plc [2008] EWHC 2614 (Ch)
Outcomes
Defendant's application to challenge jurisdiction dismissed.
Claimant met the requirements for jurisdiction: a real prospect of success on the merits, a good arguable case within the jurisdictional gateway, and England being the clearly appropriate forum.