In C v D [2007] EWHC 1541 (Comm), the claimants sought injunctive relief restraining the pursuit of legal proceedings in New York in which the defendant had sought to challenge a London arbitration award.

Granting the injunction, the court held that the fact the underlying contract was governed by New York law did not entitle the defendant to bring proceedings in the New York courts. The arbitration agreement was governed by English law, and the lex curiae was English. In those circumstances, the English court could and should intervene so as to prevent the claimant's rights being infringed by the New York proceedings. The judgment of Mr Justice Cooke considers, in particular, the relevance and interplay of substantive and curial laws in arbitral proceedings.