SHARAB V AL SAUD

[2012] EWHC 1798 (Ch), Chancery Division, Sir William Blackburne, 29 June 2012

Conflict of laws - Jurisdiction - Permission for service out granted on in respect of contract - Whether quantum meruit claim fell within permission - Civil Procedure Rules, Practice Direction 6B, paras 3.1(5) and 16.

The claimant, a Jordanian national who lived for part of the year in London, claimed commission from the defendant, a member of the Saudi royal family, with respect to a sale of an aircraft by the defendant for US$120 million. The claimant contended that she acted as broker and that an oral agreement for the sale was reached in London in August 2001, subsequently varied at a meeting in Libya in April 2003. The claimant asserted that it had been agreed that if she obtained more than US$110 million she could keep the excess. The defendant's version was that it had been agreed at a meeting in Cannes that the amount payable was at his discretion. In earlier proceedings it was held that the English court could give permission to serve the proceedings outside the jurisdiction under CPR PD 6B, para 3(5)(c) (in respect of a contract made in England). In the present proceedings the claimant amended her claim to a restitutionary claim for a quantum meruit in the sum of US$10 million. The question was whether the original permission for service out given by Lindsay J in 2007 was limited to a claim in respect of a contract or whether it extended to a restitutionary claim.