SHARAB V HRH PRINCE AL-WALEED BIN TALAL BIN ABDAL-AZIZ AL-SAUD

[2009] EWCA Civ 353, Court of Appeal (Civil Division), Lady Justice Arden, Lord Justice Richards and Lord Justice Rimer, 30 April 2009

Jurisdiction – Claim for commission for agency in aircraft sale – Whether good arguable case – Whether England and Wales clearly the appropriate forum – CPR Part 6

Mrs Sharab claimed commission of US$10 million from the defendant, the Prince (a member of the Saudi royal family), for her services as agent in relation to the sale of an Airbus 340 aircraft by the Prince to the President of Libya. The Prince applied for an order under CPR Part 11 declaring: (i) that the court had no jurisdiction to hear the claim; or (ii) that it should not exercise any jurisdiction on the ground that this was not the appropriate forum for determination of the claim. This was the appeal of the Prince against the deputy judge's order dismissing the application. The issues on appeal where whether Mrs Sharab had a good arguable case, and whether the appropriate forum was clearly England and Wales. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, holding that Mrs Sharab had a good arguable case that the contract had been concluded within the jurisdiction. The claims were in respect of a contract made within the jurisdiction even if subsequently amended outside the jurisdiction. She did not on the other hand have a good arguable case that payment of the commission was due in London and that the failure to pay in London was capable of amounting to a breach committed within the jurisdiction. The court should not at this late stage accept the Prince’s offer of an undertaking to submit to the jurisdiction of the courts in Libya. Finally, the deputy judge’s reasoning in support of his conclusion that England and Wales was clearly the appropriate forum was sound, with the exception of his reliance on the conclusion with which the Court of Appeal disagreed, namely that Mrs Sharab had a good arguable case that there was a breach of contract committed within the jurisdiction.