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30 November 2023
News | France | Dispute Resolution
On November 23, 2023, the Paris Court of Appeal held null and void an attachment carried out ten years earlier by Al‑Kharafi, a Kuwaiti construction company, over USD 360 million of assets belonging to our client, the sovereign wealth fund Libyan Investment Authority (LIA).
The attachment had been performed by Al-Kharafi in execution of an arbitral award of more than USD 1 billion rendered against the Libyan State in 2013.
While the court at first instance had found that LIA’s challenge was time-barred (having been lodged in 2021 against an attachment made in 2013), the Paris Court of Appeal ruled the challenge admissible since only the Libyan State, and not LIA itself, had been served with the attachment order.
The Court of Appeal therefore found that the deadline to challenge the attachment had never started to run against LIA, regardless of Al-Kharafi’s argument that LIA is an emanation of the Libyan State. The Court of Appeal accepted LIA’s argument that this solution was required to ensure LIA's fundamental right to access to justice.
This ruling of the Court of Appeal is the first to examine this specific issue and provides valuable insight and welcome clarification regarding service of an attachment order made against State-owned entities.
On the merits, the Court of Appeal found that the attachment was null and void as it was made over assets frozen pursuant to UN and EU sanctions, without the prior authorization of the French Ministry of Finance (Trésor). Thus, the Court reaffirms the solution outlined in the rulings handed down by the Cour de cassation on September 7, 2022, by which our team had obtained the release of all other attachments carried out by Al-Kharafi in 2013 and 2016.
Gide’s team representing LIA was led by Jean-Sébastien Bazille, Partner, assisted by Yohan Bendao, associate.
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