Update

BVI Commercial Court Confirms the Availability of Norwich Pharmacal Relief Post-Judgment in Aid of Enforcement

It has, for many years, been generally accepted in the British Virgin Islands (and elsewhere throughout the Eastern Caribbean), following the English Court of Appeal decision in Mercantile Group (Europe) AG v Aiyela [1993] 3 WLR 1116, that the Norwich Pharmacal jurisdiction could be invoked to locate assets against which a judgment could be enforced.

However, the case of NML Capital Ltd v Chapman Freeborn Holdings Ltd [2O13] EWCA Civ 589 cast doubt upon the availability of such a jurisdiction. In UVW v XYZ (Claim No. BVI HC (COM) 108 of 2016, 27 October 2016), the BVI Commercial Court has now resolved that doubt and confirmed the availability of such a jurisdiction.