Enforcing an arbitration award: appointing a receiver and freezing assets

Obtaining an arbitration award and an enforcement order in respect of it is one matter. Getting the award debtor actually to pay is another. The protracted proceedings, most recently before the High Court in Cruz City 1 Mauritius Holdings v Unitech Ltd and Others [2014] EWHC 3704 (Comm), demonstrate some deficiencies in the enforcement process where the award debtor has no assets within the jurisdiction and is determined not to pay.

The present note is a lengthy one, and traces the history of the litigation as well as highlighting the various legal issues that it spawned. The two most important issues discussed in the litigation are the appointment of a receiver over the award debtor’s assets and the jurisdiction of the English court to make freezing orders against the overseas subsidiaries of the award debtor.