Mentmore Towers Ltd & Ors v Packman Lucas Ltd.

Mentmore Towers Ltd & Ors v Packman Lucas Ltd.

The Claimants' persistent refusal to honour adjudicator's awards and court judgments, coupled with attempts to circumvent the statutory regime, constituted unreasonable and oppressive behaviour. The same principles for restraining litigation apply to adjudication. The Claimants are restrained from pursuing further adjudication until compliance with prior orders.

Parties
Claimant: Mentmore Towers Ltd; Claimant: Good Start Ltd; Claimant: Anglo Swiss Holdings Ltd; Defendant: Packman Lucas Ltd
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
16 March 2010
Procedural Posture
Application for Injunction / Ruling on Application for Injunction to Restrain Adjudication
Outcome
Injunction granted restraining Claimants from pursuing adjudication until compliance with prior orders.
Legal Topics
Adjudication, Injunctions, Stay of Proceedings, Enforcement of Adjudicator's Decisions
Construction Law Civil Procedure Adjudication Injunctions Stay of Proceedings Enforcement of Adjudicator's Decisions

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Parties

Mentmore Towers Ltd

Claimant

Good Start Ltd

Claimant

Anglo Swiss Holdings Ltd

Claimant

Packman Lucas Ltd

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Application for Injunction / Ruling on Application for Injunction to Restrain Adjudication

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the court has power to grant an injunction restraining a party from pursuing adjudication
  2. 2 Whether criteria for granting injunction differ from those for ordering a stay of litigation
  3. 3 Whether the Claimants' conduct was unreasonable and oppressive

Ratio Decidendi

The Claimants' persistent refusal to honour adjudicator's awards and court judgments, coupled with attempts to circumvent the statutory regime, constituted unreasonable and oppressive behaviour. The same principles for restraining litigation apply to adjudication. The Claimants are restrained from pursuing further adjudication until compliance with prior orders.

Court Disposition

Injunction granted restraining Claimants from pursuing adjudication until compliance with prior orders.

Orders

  • Stay of proceedings lifted solely for hearing and determining Defendants’ application dated 26 February 2010.
  • Each Claimant restrained from taking any substantive step in adjudications commenced by Notices of Adjudication dated 23 February 2010 or enforcing any adjudicator's decision until compliance with: (a) payment of costs assessed in HT-09-288 dated 16 October 2009; (b) provision of security for costs of £50,000 and...