DOES THE JUDGMENT OF THE CJEU IN GAZPROM BRING ABOUT CLARITY ON THE GRANT OF ANTI-SUIT INJUNCTIONS UNDER THE BRUSSELS I REGULATION?

Abstract

On 13 May 2015 the CJEU delivered the much anticipated judgment in Gazprom OAO v Republic of Lithuania. The CJEU had before it issues relating to the grant of anti-suit injunctions by member state courts/arbitral tribunals to enforce arbitration agreements, and also, most importantly if the Brussels I Regulation would apply to the case at hand. The case gains in significance, as the Advocate General (AG) had in December 2014, while giving his opinion on the matter had proceeded to apply a ‘future law’ on a matter pending before the courts, strongly recommended that the CJEU reconsider its judgment handed down in Allianz v West Tankers(The Front Comor). Earlier, in the West Tankers case the CJEU ruled that it was incompatible with the Brussels Regulation for the court of a EU Member State to grant an injunction restraining a party from commencing or continuing court proceedings brought in breach of an arbitration agreement. In reaching this decision, the CJEU held that if proceedings were to come within the scope of the Brussels I Regulation, then a preliminary issue concerning the validity of an arbitration agreement also came within the scope of the Regulation.