Astro Exito Navegacion S.A. v. W. T. Hsu (The Messianiaki Tolmi) - Court of Appeal (Oliver, Slade and Robert Goff L.JJ.) - 20 December 1983

Whether application for stay of proceedings is disputing jurisdiction under Order 12, rule 8(1).

This was another matter arising out of the abortive sale of the vessel Messianiaki Tolmi in 1980. (See e.g. LMLN 97 - 21 July 1983.) A London arbitration had decided that the buyers had deliberately acted so as to put themselves in the position of being able to cancel the sale contract on a sharply falling market. The present appellant (a Taiwanese citizen) was a witness for the buyers at the arbitration proceedings. The present respondents (the sellers) maintained that the appellant was a principal actor in the moves made in Taiwan to enable the buyers to escape from their responsibilities under the sale contract. The respondents took advantage of his presence at the hearing in London to effect personal service upon him of the writ in the present proceedings. The writ was endorsed with four heads of claim alleging wrongful inducement of breaches of contract, wrongful interference with the sale contract, wrongful conspiracy in connection with the sale contract and wrongful inducement of and/or aiding and abetting parties to act in contempt of orders made by Parker J.