Anti-suit injunctions: the effect of delay

The issue before Walker J in Essar Shipping Ltd v Bank of China Ltd [2015] EWHC 3266 (Comm) was whether an anti-suit injunction should be granted under section 37 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 to prevent the defendant bank from pursuing judicial proceedings in China in breach of a London arbitration clause. The only disputed matter was whether the claimant, Essar, should be refused relief by reason of its delay in seeking the injunction.

An important issue at stake was the relationship between a challenge to jurisdiction in the foreign court in question and the issue of proceedings in England for an anti-suit injunction.