Freezing Orders - Top Tips & Tactics for Utilising this Enforcement Option

Introduction

This year is the 50th anniversary of Lord Denning’s seminal judgment on freezing injunctions in the Mareva case, but the law relating to freezing injunctions continues to develop at pace.

In this box set of 6 x 30 minute modules, Andrew Barns-Graham, a Barrister and civil fraud specialist at 3 Hare Court Chambers, addresses some of the recent developments and provides his practical and tactical tips.

Module 1: Disclosure Orders

Disclosure orders have been described as what give freezing injunctions their ‘teeth’, but do these teeth have a softer bite in practice than they should?

This module considers the obligation to disclose the ‘value, location and details’ of assets and recommends that claimants consider seeking a more precise formulation at the ex parte hearing.

Module 2: Undertaking

Claimants who obtain asset disclosure pursuant to a freezing injunction generally do so subject to an undertaking not to use it for any collateral purpose.

This module considers the surprisingly wide scope of this undertaking, its significant practical implications, and the circumstances in which the courts are prepared to relax it.

Module 3: Notification Injunctions

In a few recent cases, claimants have sought notification injunctions as a less draconian alternative to full freezing injunctions.

This module considers the test for notification injunctions, their utility as an alternative to full freezing injunctions, and whether they are an underused remedy.

Module 4: Confidentiality Club Orders

The courts have occasionally made confidentiality club orders to enhance the protection of the confidentiality of a defendant’s asset disclosure.

This module considers the circumstances in which the courts grant such orders, including the question whether the continuation into trial of ‘external eyes only’ orders violates the fundamental principles of open and natural justice.

Module 5: Exceptions

The exceptions to the model freezing injunctions are wide and involve a significant amount of notification/policing work for lawyers on both sides of the case.

This module focuses on the living and legal expenses exceptions and identifies some useful tactics and strategies which can be deployed.

Module 6: The Law on the Definition of Assets

A freezing injunction freezes a defendant’s assets, but what does ‘assets’ mean? This question received considerable attention after the landmark decision in Pugachev, but not so much since then.

This module therefore considers how the law on the definition of ‘assets’ has continued to develop over the last few years.

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Friday 20th June 2025

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