United Kingdom / 02 October 2008 / England and Wales, High Court / Syska (the Administrator of Elektrim S.A. in Bankruptcy) v. Vivendi Universal S.A. / 2008 Folio NO 367
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Court | England and Wales, High Court |
| Date | 02 October 2008 |
| Parties | Syska (the Administrator of Elektrim S.A. in Bankruptcy) v. Vivendi Universal S.A. |
| Case number | 2008 Folio NO 367 |
| Source |
[2008] EWHC 2155 | online: BAILII |
| Languages | English |
| Summary | Elektrim S.A. (“Elektrim”), a Polish company, entered into an agreement with Vivendi Universal S.A. and Vivendi Telecom International S.A. (collectively, “Vivendi”), French companies, for the acquisition by Vivendi of an interest in PTC, a Polish mobile telephone company. The agreement contained a clause providing for arbitration in London pursuant to the Arbitration Rules of the London Court of International Arbitration. Disputes arose and Vivendi initiated arbitration. Subsequently, Elektrim was declared bankrupt in Poland by order of the Warsaw District Court. It thereupon objected to the arbitral tribunal’s jurisdiction on the ground that under Polish law, the arbitration clause had ceased to have effect as at the date of bankruptcy. The arbitral tribunal issued a partial award finding that it had jurisdiction. Elektrim thereafter applied to the English High Court for an order to set aside the award, maintaining that the arbitration clause had been annulled by operation of Polish law. The High Court denied Elektrim’s application. The Court had regard, in particular, to provisions of the Council Regulation (EC) No. 1346/2000 on Insolvency Proceedings. It explained that the effect of those provisions was that the consequences of the bankruptcy order were determined by Polish law, except in a “lawsuit” dealing with assets of the debtor, which were to be governed by the law of the Member State in which that suit was pending. It reasoned that the expression “lawsuit” included an arbitral proceeding. In so ruling, the Court made reference to the special protection afforded to international arbitration by the NYC, which obliged courts of Contracting States to uphold the arbitral process by staying judicial proceedings brought in breach of an arbitration agreement. The Court emphasised that arbitration proceedings were not to be regarded as “the poor relation” to judicial proceedings. |
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