British Virgin Islands: Arbitration & Dispute Resolution

The UK Supreme Court's landmark decision in Servis-Terminal LLC v Drelle has overturned the English Court of Appeal's controversial ruling, clarifying that unrecognised foreign judgments can form the basis of insolvency proceedings without prior recognition. This briefing examines how the Supreme Court's restoration of the common law 'obligation principle' impacts creditors seeking to enforce foreign judgment debts in the BVI, particularly following the uncertainty created by the first instance decision in

This robust decision illustrates that even in cases alleging fraud and dishonesty, it may be possible to obtain summary judgment on the merits.

The legislation governing arbitration in the British Virgin Islands (the "BVI") is the Arbitration Act 2013 (the "Arbitration Act" or the "Act").