Summary

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Conclusion

The claimants' claims were brought with the principal aim of obtaining damages and applying these to the satisfaction of tax debts due by TNG in the Republic of Kazakhstan. This is a breach of the common law Revenue Rule which provides that the Gibraltar courts do not have jurisdiction to entertain an action for the enforcement, either directly or indirectly, of a revenue law of a foreign state. As such, the court should decline jurisdiction to hear the claims against Terra Raf.

It follows that the court does not have jurisdiction to hear the claims against the Statis or Tristan. These defendants can only be sued in Gibraltar if jurisdiction is grounded against Terra Raf as anchor defendant. Therefore, this court's Order of the 27 November 2020 granting the claimants permission to serve the Statis and Tristan out of the jurisdiction is set aside.

Had I dismissed Terra Raf's challenge, I would in any event have found that Gibraltar was not the proper place for the trial of the claims against the Statis and Tristan.

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