UK: English Court Rules That it Has Jurisdiction to Hear Reinsurance Claim Between a Bermudian Insurer and a Swiss Reinsurer

In Gard Marine & Energy Ltd ( A company incorporated under the laws of Bermuda) v (1) Lloyd Tunnicliffe (2) Glacier Reinsurance AG (A company incorporated under the laws of Switzerland) (3) Agnew Higgins Pickering & Co Ltd [2009] EWHC 2388 (Comm), the English Commercial Court was asked to consider whether the dispute between Gard and Glacier Re should be heard by the English courts. Mr Justice Hamblen was guided by the judgment of the European Court of Justice in Kalfelis v Schroeder, Muenchmeyer, Hengst & Co [1988] ECR 5565, which states that the issue under Article 6(1), where there are a number of defendants, is whether the claims against the defendants are so closely connected that it is expedient to hear and determine them together to avoid the risk of irreconcilable judgments resulting from separate proceedings.  Hamblen J concluded that it was overwhelmingly just, convenient and expedient that Gard’s claims should be determined in one jurisdiction.