Synopsis
There are a number of different principles which make up the doctrines known as ‘res judicata’ and ‘abuse of process’ in the common law. Lord Sumption identified no fewer than 6 principles in his judgment in Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited v Zodiac Seats UK Limited [2013] UKSC 46. The dividing line between these principles is far from clear. Regrettably the good work begun by Lord Bingham in Johnson v Gore Wood [2002] 2 AC 1 to untangle the Henderson v Henderson rule from the estoppel threads in which it was born, appear to have been complicated by Lord Sumption’s analysis in Virgin Atlantic of the House of Lord’s decision in Arnold v National Westminster Bank plc [1991] 2 AC 93. It now appears that cause of action estoppel is not as absolute as previously thought, and the dividing line between cause of action estoppel and issue estoppel arguably indistinguishable. It is suggested that the Singapore Court of Appeal’s recent decision on the scope of issue estoppel in RBS v TT International Ltd [2015] SGCA 50 provides the better interpretation of Arnold and a more coherent and defensible framework for the rules of res judicata.
The seminar will conclude with some reflections on the challenges of ensuring the scope of the corporate privilege is neither under inclusive nor over inclusive a decade after the decisions in Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB v Asia Pacific Breweries [2007] SGCA 9 and Three Rivers DC v Bank of England (Disclosure) (No 3) [2003] QB 1556.
About the Speaker
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Andrew Higgins is an Associate Professor of Civil Procedure at the University of Oxford and a fellow of Mansfield College. He is convenor of the BCL Principles of Civil Procedure Course, has published extensively on topics relating to civil procedure in leading peer reviewed journals and a book on Legal Professional Privilege for Corporations: A guide to 4 Major Common Law Jurisdictions (Oxford University Press 2014).
Andrew is also a practising barrister at the Victorian Bar specialising in mass tort and tobacco related litigation and since 2011 has acted as special counsel for the Australian Government in the defence of its tobacco plain packaging laws against constitutional, investor-state arbitration and WTO challenges.
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Fees
Seminar fee of S$150* is applicable.
For Group registration (at least 10 participants from the same organisation), a discounted fee of $135* applies.
For SMU law alumni (LL.B., J.D. and LL.M.), a discounted fee of $135* applies.
*Registration fee is payable via cheque or credit card.
*Above stated fee is inclusive of GST and is non-refundable if registrant did not attend the seminar.
For any transferring of registration / substitution, please email: cle@smu.edu.sg, latest by 5 April 2017.
Continuing Legal Education reserves the right to cancel or postpone any events owing to unforeseen circumstances.
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