Thum v Thum

Thum v Thum

The respondent's objections to disclosure based on alleged German legal prohibitions are unfounded; there is no real, actual risk of prosecution or civil sanction in Germany if the disclosure is made pursuant to an English court order in confidential proceedings. The respondent's conduct amounts to an improper...

Source-derived case information.

Parties
Applicant: Catia Marion Thum; Respondent: Oliver Thum
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
16 April 2019
Procedural Posture
Family (financial Remedies) / Interlocutory Application for Enforcement and Disclosure
Outcome
Application for enforcement granted; respondent's application to stay/vary disclosure order refused.
Legal Topics
Disclosure of Documents, Enforcement of Court Orders, Foreign Law Objections, Confidentiality of Documents, Jurisdictional Challenges
Family Law International Law Civil Procedure Disclosure of Documents Enforcement of Court Orders Foreign Law Objections Confidentiality of Documents Jurisdictional Challenges

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Summary, issues, holding and outcome

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Parties

Catia Marion Thum

Applicant

Oliver Thum

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Family (financial Remedies) / Interlocutory Application for Enforcement and Disclosure

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the respondent is obliged to disclose documents stored on a flash drive in light of alleged German legal prohibitions and confidentiality claims
  2. 2 Whether the respondent's objections to disclosure are tenable under English law and procedure
  3. 3 Whether the respondent faces a real risk of civil or criminal sanction in Germany if he complies with the English court's disclosure order

Ratio Decidendi

The respondent's objections to disclosure based on alleged German legal prohibitions are unfounded; there is no real, actual risk of prosecution or civil sanction in Germany if the disclosure is made pursuant to an English court order in confidential proceedings. The respondent's conduct amounts to an improper filibuster in bad faith, and the documents must be disclosed from the wife's German lawyers' copy to ensure progress of the case.

Court Disposition

Application for enforcement granted; respondent's application to stay/vary disclosure order refused.

Orders

  • Disclosure of the paragraph 10 documents to be made from the copy held by the wife's German lawyers.
  • Permission granted to the wife to disclose this judgment, position statements, and the court bundle into the related Berlin proceedings.