Dennis v Tag Group Ltd & Ors [2017] EWHC

Whether defendant had submitted to the jurisdiction by resisting an injunction application

The defendants were a Jersey and Bahraini company. The English solicitors of the Bahraini company advised that they were not instructed to accept service of the claim form and stated that "all our client's rights, including as to jurisdiction... are fully reserved". The claimant then issued an application for an injunction and the defendants participated in, and resisted, that application. It was argued that they had thereby submitted to the jurisdiction of the English court. The respondents countered that they had had no real option but to defend the injunction and that this should not be treated as a submission to the jurisdiction.

It is an accepted principle that a person who appears merely to contest the jurisdiction of the English court does not thereby submit. It must instead be shown that they have taken some step which is only necessary or useful if the objection to jurisdiction had been waived. The defendants sought to argue that the position is different in relation to injunctions because there is no acknowledgement of service form (alerting the defendant that it can contest jurisdiction) and a party is entitled to defend an...