In Law Debenture Trust Corporation v Ukraine [2023] UKSC 11 the Law Debenture Trust Corporation, acting on behalf of the Russian Federation (‘Russia’), sought repayment of debt owed to Russia by Ukraine, pursuant to Eurobonds issued in 2013 with a nominal value of $3 billion (the ‘Notes’), which fell due in 2015 but were not repaid. The Supreme Court allowed Ukraine’s pleaded defence that the Notes are voidable for duress to the person to proceed to trial. However, the court struck out all Ukraine’s other pleaded defences, including its argument that it lacked capacity to enter into the agreements pursuant to which the Notes were issued (and/or that its Minister of Finance lacked ostensible authority to issue the Notes), and held that the international law doctrine of countermeasures was not part of English law. The decision is remarkable for its acceptance that threats of force by a state may amount to illegitimate pressure for the purposes of duress in English private law, and for its analysis of when English courts may refer to international law in applying English law. It is also a rare example of a private contractual claim giving rise to fundamental questions of international law …
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Andrew Sanger and Janet O’Sullivan, Russian Threats of Force against Ukraine may constitute Duress in English Contract Law, Cambridge Law Journal, volume 83, issue 1, March 2024, pp 1-5. Published online by Cambridge University Press: 3 April 2024.
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