Commercial

Garnishee proceedings - foreign debt - garnishee order permissible provided no real risk of garnishee paying twiceSocit Eram Shipping Co Ltd v Compagnie Internationale de Navigation and Others: CA (Lords Justice Schiemann, Mance and Keene): 7 August 2001 The claimant, which had obtained a judgment in its favour against certain creditors resident in Hong Kong, applied for a garnishee order directed to the London branch of a Hong Kong bank to be made absolute.

The bank claimed that if such an order were made there would be double jeopardy in that the court in Hong Kong would not recognise the order and the bank would remain liable to the judgment debtors in Hong Kong in respect of the balances.

Mr Justice Tomlinson refused to make the order and the judgment creditors appealed.Hugo Page (instructed by Penningtons) for the judgment creditor; Christopher Harrison (instructed by Stephenson Harwood) for the garnishee.Held, allowing the appeal, that a garnishee order could be made against a foreign bank in respect of credit balances held by judgment debtors resident in Hong Kong, even where there was evidence that a Hong Kong court would not recognise such an order provided there was no real risk of the garnishee being liable to pay twice; that on payment of the debt pursuant to a garnishee order, the garnishee would acquire a restitutionary claim against the judgment debtors, which, assuming that the law of Hong Kong was the same as English law, would be enforceable in Hong Kong.