Our Litigation & Dispute Resolution Team, led by David Pack, has successfully defended an application to the Court of Appeal.
The case arose from repeated and calculated breaches of two freezing orders by the Defendant with the specific intention of depriving the Claimant of the money he was owed.
Despite the effect that a custodial sentence could have on her 13-year-old son and his rights under ECHR art.8, the Court deemed that the breaches were sufficiently serious to justify an immediate custodial sentence of 9 months.
The Court of Appeal upheld the decision. The mitigating factors were not sufficiently strong to depart from the Court of Appeal’s very strong guidance in JSC BTA Bank v Solodchenko [2011] EWCA Civ 1241, that an immediate custodial sentence was required for breaches of freezing orders.
Freezing orders are not granted lightly and this case reflects the Court’s commitment to impose an immediate custodial sentence on anyone who seeks to undermine a freezing order; committal orders are the bulwark of the rule of law.
The team worked closely with Sarah Bousfield of 39 Essex Chambers.
For further information, or to discuss freezing assets, please contact our Litigation & Dispute Resolution Team.
