International assistance: The English Litigation Toolkit

Where key information is held by third parties, English courts can compel disclosure to identify wrongdoers, trace transactions and support the formulation of claims.

Relevant tools

• Norwich Pharmacal Orders

• Third-party Disclosure Applications

Norwich Pharmacal Orders

A Norwich Pharmacal Order is used to obtain disclosure from third parties to identify wrongdoers or trace transactions.

• Unlike a Bankers Trust Order, a Norwich Pharmacal Order is primarily directed towards identifying wrongdoers and uncovering the information necessary to bring or pursue a claim. A Norwich Pharmacal Order compels a third-party, sometimes a bank or service provider, to disclose information that helps identify wrongdoers or trace assets unlocking evidence.

• Even if your litigation is abroad, English courts can grant Norwich Pharmacal Orders against entities based here giving you access to potentially critical evidence for your local proceedings.

• They are frequently used against banks, professional advisers and corporate service providers that have become mixed up in wrongdoing.

• If you are facing complex cross-border disputes, Norwich Pharmacal Orders can be pivotal.

Third-party Disclosure Applications

• Third-party Disclosure Applications can require non-parties holding relevant information or documents to provide evidence needed for ongoing or anticipated proceedings.

• They may be particularly valuable where key documents are held by intermediaries, professional advisers, corporate service providers or other parties connected to the dispute. Used strategically, they can help establish critical facts, identify additional claims and strengthen recovery efforts.

English courts offer effective mechanisms to trace assets and obtain financial information where funds have passed through English institutions or structures connected to England.

Relevant tools

• Bankers Trust Orders

• Asset Disclosure Orders

Bankers Trust Orders

A Bankers Trust Order is used to trace misappropriated assets and obtain banking information.

• Bankers Trust Orders compel a bank or other financial institution to disclose confidential information about accounts and transactions. This can be invaluable to you when tracing misappropriated client funds and identifying the destination of assets.

• Even if your litigation is proceeding abroad, English courts can still grant Bankers Trust Orders against banks and other institutions, tracing assets and obtaining financial evidence to support your case.

• These orders tend to be common in fraud and asset recovery cases, especially when funds have been moved through UK banks or financial institutions. This is a vital targeted disclosure tool when tracing assets across borders. Bankers Trust Orders are often used alongside freezing injunctions and proprietary claims to maximize recovery prospects.

Asset Disclosure Orders

An Asset Disclosure Order can be used to reveal what assets exist and where they are located.

• Asset Disclosure Orders require respondents to identify the nature, value and location of assets. The order can compel the disclosure of bank accounts, investments, property interests, trust interests and corporate holdings.

• Often granted alongside freezing injunctions, they can provide a roadmap for subsequent enforcement action with noncompliance creating significant litigation pressure and exposing respondents to contempt proceedings.

Urgent interim relief may be available where there is a risk that assets will be dissipated before judgment or enforcement.

Relevant tools

• Freezing Injunctions (including Worldwide Freezing Orders)

• Proprietary Injunctions

• Receivership Orders

Freezing Injunctions (including Worldwide Freezing Orders)

Freezing Injunctions prevent the dissipation, concealment or transfer of assets (including asset disclosure as part of standard order).

• A Freezing Injunction is a court order that prevents a defendant, or even a potential defendant, from moving or dissipating assets. If you’re worried about assets disappearing before your client obtains an arbitration award or a judgment from your local court, the English courts can help. These orders can be obtained urgently and without notice to the defendant.

• English courts can grant freezing injunctions even before substantive proceedings have been commenced, and in support of proceedings or arbitrations taking place in other jurisdictions.

• Crucially, if there are not enough assets present in England to freeze, English courts can grant worldwide orders and it is a contempt of court for the defendant not to comply. Orders can apply to bank accounts, shares, property and even crypto-assets.

• If there’s a risk that key assets may vanish, English freezing injunctions can give you global reach and immediate protection, even while your local case is pending. In appropriate cases, freezing relief may also be obtained against third parties holding or controlling assets beneficially owned by the defendant.

• However, they do come with responsibilities. Full and frank disclosure is essential, and there is also a requirement to provide an undertaking in damages in the event the order was later dismissed.

Proprietary Injunctions

A Proprietary Injunction is used to preserve assets that the claimant says belong to them.

• Proprietary Injunctions preserve specific assets claimed to belong beneficially to the claimant pending determination of the substantive claim, so that it remains available for recovery. They are particularly valuable in fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, asset tracing and crypto-asset disputes.

• They are considered a powerful remedy because they are directed at assets that the claimant says already belong to them, rather than merely securing payment of a future judgment.

• Frequently used alongside tracing claims and Bankers Trust Orders, they require information about the whereabouts of the assets. Breach of the injunction can constitute contempt of court, exposing the respondent to fines, sequestration or imprisonment.

Receivership orders

Receivership Orders are used to appoint a third-party to take practical control of the assets.

• Where there is concern that assets are being concealed, misappropriated or dissipated e.g., in complex corporate structures, offshore arrangements or opaque asset holdings. Receivership orders appoint an independent receiver to take control of, preserve and recover assets.

• As one of the strongest asset-preservation and enforcement tools available to the English courts they are particularly valuable where a freezing order alone is inadequate because there is concern that defendants will not comply with court orders. They can be appointed not just to preserve but also to collect in assets.

Where important witnesses, documents or data are located in England, the courts can assist in obtaining and preserving evidence for use in overseas proceedings.

Relevant tools

• Letter of Request

• Search and Imaging Orders

Letter of Request

Letters of Request are used to obtain evidence from a witness/third-party located in England.

• Letters of Request enable the English court to compel witness testimony and document production, providing access to evidence for use in proceedings in your local jurisdiction that may otherwise be unavailable.

• They are most common in complex commercial disputes, fraud cases and international arbitrations, especially when key witnesses or documents are located in England.

• Letters of Request can be a vital tool for securing evidence across borders, but they can also be open to challenge if the requests are too wide or improperly formulated.

Search and Imaging Orders

A Search and Imaging Order is used to preserve and secure evidence (including electronic data).

• A Search Order is one of the most powerful remedies in the English court’s tool kit where there is a real risk that relevant evidence may be concealed, altered or destroyed.

• Even if your litigation is abroad, the English courts can grant Search Orders against parties or entities based in England, granting the ability to access and preserve potentially crucial evidence for proceedings ongoing in your local jurisdiction at an early stage of your dispute.

• It is an exceptional remedy and is therefore granted in the clearest and most serious cases, where there is compelling evidence of wrongdoing and a genuine risk that evidence will be lost.

England remains a leading jurisdiction for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards.

Relevant tools

• Enforcing Arbitration Awards

• Enforcement of Foreign Judgments

• Related Enforcement Measures

Enforcing Arbitration Awards

Enforcement of arbitration awards can be used to recognize and enforce arbitral awards against assets located in England.

• England remains one of the leading jurisdictions for the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards under the New York Convention. If assets are in England – or pass through its financial system – enforcement here can be decisive. It is a powerful tool for international lawyers handling cross-border disputes.

• The process is straightforward: Apply to the English court to recognize the award, then it can be enforced like a judgment. Challenges are limited, mainly on procedural grounds or public policy.

• Recognition and enforcement of arbitration awards in England is efficient, reliable and globally respected.

• Where the seat of the arbitration is in London, if you are a respondent and wish to challenge the award (e.g., on the basis of an error of law or procedural irregularity), there is a framework for doing so in the English Court, which we will cover in a future series.

Enforcing Foreign Judgments

Enforcement of foreign judgements can be used to recognize and enforce overseas judgments to access assets in England.

• If you’ve obtained a judgment abroad you may be able to enforce it in England to access assets here, or to apply pressure on a judgment debtor.

• Depending on the jurisdiction concerned, a foreign judgment may be enforced through statutory registration regimes or by bringing a claim upon the judgment in England.

• Once recognized, the full range of English enforcement tools becomes available, including charging orders, third-party debt orders, receivership orders and insolvency proceedings.

• English courts can be a powerful tool in cross-border disputes. Enforcing a foreign judgment in England can be a decisive step towards recovery, particularly when assets are located here.

Related Enforcement Measures

• Related Enforcement Measures can be used to convert a recognised judgment or award into practical recovery.

• Depending on the nature and location of assets, available options may include charging orders, third-party debt orders, receivership appointments and insolvency processes. The appropriate strategy will often involve a combination of tools tailored to the asset profile and enforcement objectives.

These remedies can often be deployed in a coordinated manner, enabling overseas parties to identify wrongdoers, preserve evidence, trace assets, prevent dissipation and ultimately enforce final judgments or awards against assets located in England, wherever their main dispute may be proceedings.

Serving foreign proceedings in England

Service of foreign proceedings can be used to effect valid service in England and ensure compliance with procedural requirements.

• Proper service is often the first step in establishing jurisdiction and ensuring that any judgment obtained is capable of recognition and enforcement.

• If a party or witness to your overseas litigation is based in England, you may need to serve them with your proceedings here. Proper service ensures compliance with due process and avoids challenges later.

• Serving proceedings from courts based abroad, in England, can be complex – but with the right guidance, it’s straightforward and can ensure your case isn’t derailed by technicalities.

• Using a local lawyer who understands the procedural rules and can coordinate with the English High Court, can expedite the service through proper channels.

Leveraging the English jurisdiction can be used to harness the power of English courts to protect interests.

• English courts offer predictable outcomes, strong enforcement powers and can provide a strategic advantage in international corporate disputes – even when most of the group is based abroad. The presence of an English-domiciled company, assets located in England, English contractual arrangements or relevant conduct occurring within the jurisdiction can all provide potential grounds for proceedings before the English courts.

• The availability of extensive disclosure, interim remedies and effective enforcement mechanisms often makes England an attractive forum for resolving complex international disputes.

• When remedies in your local jurisdiction might be limited or slow. English law can be an especially useful forum giving claimants, minority shareholders and investors another path to protect their interests.