Infrastructure Services Luxembourg - Energía Termosolar Bv V the Kingdom of Spain - 2024 EWCA Civ 52 - Approved Judgment - 1 February 2024
Country
Year
2024
Summary
1. The single question in this application is whether this court should require the Kingdom of Spain (Spain) to provide security for the satisfaction of an arbitration award in the sum of 120,083,287.88 (the Award) as a condition of being permitted to pursue its appeal from the decision of Mr Justice Fraser (the judge). The judge decided on 24 May 2023 to dismiss Spain's application to set aside Mrs Justice Cockerill's order registering the Award as a judgment of the High Court under section 1(2) of the Arbitration (International Investment Disputes) Act 1966 (the 1966 Act).
2. The Award was granted against Spain on 15 June 2018 in an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitration in respect of losses incurred by the Claimants on investments in Spanish solar power installations. It was alleged that Spain breached its obligations under the Energy Charter Treaty.
3. This application arose as follows. On 11 August 2023, Spain filed its Notice of Appeal seeking permission to appeal against the judge's order. On 28 August 2023, the Claimants filed their brief statement of reasons (the Statement) as to why permission should be refused under [19(1)] of CPR Practice Direction 52C (PD52C). At [13] of the Statement, the Claimants said:
If the Court were minded to grant permission, in accordance with PD52C.19(1)(c) [the Claimants] identify the following condition to which they contend the appeal should be subject, namely that Spain should provide security for the Registration Order in the sum of EUR 120,083,287.88 or such sum as the Court may think fit, under CPR 52.6(2)(b), in accordance with and in service of the UK's international obligations under the ICSID Convention, as implemented in the 1966 Act, to register and enforce the Award, the authenticity of which is not in dispute (see: [Micula v. Romania [2020] UKSC 5 (Micula SC)] at [68]; and [Micula v. Romania [2018] EWCA Civ 1801 (Micula CA)] at [247]-[248] as to security).
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28. For the reasons I have given, I would dismiss the Claimants' application. Spain's undertaking to stay the Luxembourg Proceedings until the final determination of its appeal from the judge, whether they terminate in this court or in the UK Supreme Court, should be recited in this court's order in terms to be agreed between the parties.
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