HULLEY ENTERPRISES LTD AND OTHERS V THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

[2021] EWHC 894 (Comm), Queen’s Bench Division, Commercial Court, Mr Justice Henshaw, 14 April 2021

Arbitration – Enforcement – Sovereign immunity – Stay of proceedings – Grant of security – Case management – Arbitration Act 1996, section 103(5)

In July 2014 the claimants obtained Final Awards in arbitration proceedings in The Hague against Russia. The tribunal ruled that Russia had unlawfully expropriated the assets of Yukos, in which the claimants were shareholders, and awarded in excess of US$50 billion. The Final Awards were not honoured. Russia challenged the Final Awards and other awards (together the Awards) in judicial proceedings in Holland, alleging, amongst other things, that the Awards had been procured by fraud, that the tribunal had no jurisdiction because Russia was not a party to the Treaty under which the claim was brought and that in any event the claimants would have had no rights under the Treaty.