How good is your Super Injunction in another country?

04-Jul-2011 The recent well publicised court proceedings involving Super Injunctions, Twitter and disclosure orders have highlighted a number of complex areas of law.

These proceedings highlight problems that should be considered if you or your business deals with companies abroad or has issues with foreign individuals or registered entities in this jurisdiction. From time to time, disputes will arise and court proceedings may be inevitable. Before embarking on a claim against a company in another jurisdiction the options available to enforce any subsequent judgment should be carefully considered, as they will be different from country to country. Both our commercial litigation and IP teams deal with the issues dependent on the nature of the dispute.

Twitter has agreed in the most recent case to provide disclosure in the UK.

The Court rules are complex and do not specify what methods of enforcement are available. The options of enforcement are determined by the country in which enforcement is to take place. The rules are only concerned with what is required to effectively treat the UK judgment as a judgment of the country in which the enforcement is to take place.

The starting point is invariably registration of the UK judgment in the courts of the country in which you want to enforce. Some countries are exempt from this requirement (Mainly EU signatories) and in others you cannot simply apply to register the judgment but actually have to issue a new claim in that country using the UK judgment as the basis for that claim.

However, because of the US 1st Amendment and the US Speech Act, proceedings and enforcement of judgments which favour privacy over free speech in the US may be impossible. In addition, it is not possible to take action against ISPs (internet service providers) based in the US due to the US Communications Decency Act. In America, the 1st Amendment (press freedom) takes precedence over any individual right to privacy.

In cases such as these we liaise with our fellow TAGLaw International Law Firm Network members to find out what your options in any particular country may be.

For more information contact Hammad Ahmad

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