In West Tankers Inc. v. RAS Riunione Adriatica di Sicurta S.p.A. (The Front Comor), the European Court of Justice (ECJ) held that it is inconsistent with Council Regulation 44/2001 (EC) for a court of an EU Member State to issue an antisuit injunction forbidding a lawsuit to proceed in another Member State, even if the antisuit injunction is issued in support of an arbitration agreement. This comment summarizes the ECJ’s judgment, which has given rise to considerable criticism, as well as the U.K. House of Lords’ earlier judgment, which had advocated the opposite conclusion. It also considers some of the consequences of the ECJ’s judgment, including in particular the risk that judgments rendered in disregard of arbitration agreements will have to be enforced, and proposes a possible solution to this problem.
Journal of International Arbitration