Interim relief: preservation of assets and evidence

Section 44 of the Arbitration Act 1996 permits the English courts to grant orders preserving assets or evidence for an arbitration in case of urgency and where the tribunal is unable to act. In Company 1 v Company 2 and Another [2017] EWHC 2319 (QB) the issue before HH Judge Saffman was not only whether the matter was urgent, but also whether it was appropriate for the English court to intervene to support an arbitration which had its seat in Switzerland. The application failed on both counts.

The facts