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United Kingdom

Court of Appeal: Foreign anti-suit or anti-anti-suit injunctions rarely constitute criminal contempt; timing alone insufficient; civil contempt is the sanction where ASI/AASI relief would be justified.

Published on: 25 March 2026

Published by a LexisNexis Dispute Resolution expert
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BHP Group (UK) Ltd and another v Município de Mariana and others [2026] EWCA Civ 294

What are the practical implications of the case?

This decision reiterates that criminal contempt is confined to what is reasonably required to safeguard the public interest in the proper administration of justice. In judging that requirement, policy considerations normally demand a balancing of potentially competing interests, as circumstances of this kind often present. One category of behaviour captured by the contempt jurisdiction is taking measures designed to obstruct or deter a party or individual from advancing their claim. Yet actions intended to impede or stop a claimant from bringing proceedings will not invariably constitute criminal contempt. The boundary is not mapped by a simple divide between conduct that is, in itself, lawful or unlawful. Instead, the line is drawn by asking whether the conduct is improper, even where it would otherwise be lawful. That assessment entails weighing competing interests that may collide in matters of this sort, with careful attention to the administration of justice...

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