Dell Emerging Markets (EMEA) Ltd & Ors v (Systems Equipment Telecommunications Services SAL & Ors
April 2, 2020
COMMERCIAL COURT
United Kingdom
CORAM
- MR JUSTICE HENSHAW
Areas of Law
- Civil Procedure
- Conflict of Laws
April 2, 2020
COMMERCIAL COURT
United Kingdom
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
This judgment by Mr Justice Henshaw at the resumed hearing of Dell’s committal application addresses contempt findings and sentencing against Systems Equipment Telecommunications Services SAL (SETS), a Lebanese company, and its directors Maher Chahlawi, Marwan Junior Chahlawi, Sarah Bibi and Pierre Albert Chalhoub. After a 13 March 2020 written judgment found each respondent guilty of contempt for breaching interim and final anti-suit injunctions restraining SETS from pursuing Lebanese proceedings against Dell, the court reconvened and proceeded in the respondents’ absence following proper notice and remote hearing arrangements due to Covid-19. Applying authority on trials in absence and sentencing guidance equating anti-suit breaches to freezing-order breaches, the court imposed immediate imprisonment: 18 months for Maher and Marwan, nine months for Sarah and Pierre; indicated possible remission upon cessation of Lebanese proceedings; and summarily assessed Dell’s costs at £225,000. The company’s remedies would be addressed separately.
MR JUSTICE HENSHAW:
INTRODUCTION :
This judgment is given at the resumed hearing of the claimants’ application by notice dated 20 May 2019 for an order that all the respondents are guilty of contempt of court, for the committal of the second to fifth respondents to prison for such contempt of court, for permission to issue writs of sequestration against all the respondents, and for various other relief.
This hearing has proceeded in the absence of the respondents in circumstances which I shall explain shortly. It has been listed and held in open court, in court 25 of the Rolls Building, with the proceedings audible in the court room. However, due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, the judge and those parties and representatives who chose to attend have attended the hearing remotely by telephone. Media representatives who have asked to attend the hearing remotely by telephone have also been provided with the details so that they can do so.
FINDINGS IN PREVIOUS JUDGMENT :
In my judgment dated 13 March 2020 I concluded for the reasons set out there that each of the respondents, Systems Equipment Telecommunications Services SAL, Maher Chahlawi, Marwan Junior Chahlawi, Pierre Albert Chalhoub and Sarah Bibi is guilty of contempt of court, that having been proven to the criminal standard. That judgment followed a hearing in open court on 26 February 2020 of which the respondents had notice but chose not to attend.
The hearing proceeded in the respondents’ absence to address the issue of whether contempts of court had occurred, with any issues of sentence to be adjourned to a later date. This followed the receipt of a letter dated 21 February 2020 from the respondents’ Lebanese lawyer, Mr Naji Lahoud of Jurisfirma, unsupported by any evidence, seeking an adjournment of unspecified duration of the hearing, failing which he said the respondents would not attend the hearing. Near the outset of the hearing on 26 February 2020, I gave a detailed oral judgment setting out the background to that request, the steps I took in response to it, including receipt of submissions and evidence from Dell, and affording the respondents a further opportunity to file submissions and/or evidence, and my reasons for proceeding with the hearing in the respondents’ absence.
My written judgment dated 13 March 2020 sets out my reasons for my conclusion that each of the respondents is guilty of contempt of court. In essence, the contempt consisted of the respondents’ breaches of inter