REASONS FOR MIDDLE EASTERN AND GULF PARTIES TO LITIGATE IN THE ENGLISH COURTS
According to a recent Law Society report, parties from the United Arab Emirates litigated in the English courts in record volumes between 2023 and 2025. With 196 judgments rendered between October 2023 and September 2024, the London Commercial Court remains a global leader for commercial disputes. Irrespective of Brexit, the English courts remain a popular location for commercial parties owing to a variety of effective available remedies as well as procedural speed and efficiency. In this article, we highlight four aspects of litigating in England and Wales which make it an attractive and robust forum for parties engaged in international commerce in the Middle East, the Gulf and beyond.
Freezing orders
Freezing orders, preventing the dissipation of assets, and with worldwide application, are one of the strongest tools available to litigants in the English courts. Parties can apply for freezing orders ex parte prior to litigation commencing, and over a wide range of both tangible and intangible assets. Given their draconian effect, parties must satisfy a high threshold in order to obtain such an injunction, set out in the seminal Mareva case. The applicant is required to: (i) put forward a good arguable case, which is “more than barely capable of serious argument, but not necessarily one which the judge considers would have a better than 50 per cent chance of success”; (ii) prove the existence of the assets over which the freezing order is sought; (iii) prove a real risk of dissipation of the assets; and (iv) establish that to grant the freezing injunction would be “just and convenient”.
Apr-Jun 2026 issue
Volterra Fietta