The Court of Appeal has handed down judgment in favour of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, dismissing an appeal brought by Mr Seamus Andrew, a former director of P&ID. In October 2023, Mr Justice Knowles delivered his landmark judgment setting aside an US$11 billion arbitral award which had been fraudulently obtained against the Federal Republic of Nigeria by P&ID. Following this judgment, Mr Andrew sought to bring an appeal as a non-party to the proceedings seeking to remove certain passages of the judgment which were critical of his conduct, particularly in relation to his use and retention of Nigeria's internal legal documents in his role representing P&ID as its lawyer during the arbitration. He brought this challenge alleging that his Article 6 (the right to a good reputation) and Article 8 (the right to a private life) rights had allegedly been breached.
The Court of Appeal rejected Mr Andrew's appeal both on procedural and substantive grounds, finding that he was "well aware of the allegations against him from the detailed pleadings and the lengthy cross-examination", that Mr Andrew's attempt to argue that the process had been unfair was "misconceived", and that "the finding that Mr Andrew's conduct was indefensible was plainly correct".
Generally, the Court of Appeal has reaffirmed that it is only in exceptional cases that a non-party can appeal a finding made against it, and that this case did not fall within that category. Furthermore, the Court of Appeal has acknowledged Nigeria's entitlement to finality of the judgment setting aside the $11 billion award, and that the door should not be open to further challenges.
Shaistah Akhtar led the Mishcon de Reya team for the Federal Republic of Nigeria, alongside Partner Andrew Short, supported by Managing Associate Lydia Allaby and Associates Holly Edmond and Sharvani Jeya Putra.
Instructed by Mishcon de Reya, the Counsel team was led by James Willan KC (Essex Court Chambers), supported by Tom Ford (Essex Court Chambers) and Malcolm Birdling (Brick Court Chambers).
Read the judgment
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