Death of Brother Owen Davies
The unexpected death from a coronary illness of one of his brothers, Owen, a patent agent with Renault S.A., and its bizarre aftermath, have led to complicated litigation in the Belgian and English courts. with the Davies family contesting his will.
An attempt by Adrian Davies to launch parallel proceedings in Belgium without notifying the Belgian Court of English proceedings was blocked by a landmark anti-suit injunction granted by Miss Sarah Asplin QC on 20 May 2011, where she stated "Given that the present defendants had submitted to the hearing of that issue and allowed costs to be incurred, in my judgement such conduct is vexatious and oppressive".
The judgement to the preliminary issue to determine the domicile of Owen Davies was handed down on 12 July 2011 by Mr Charles Hollander QC and ruled against Adrian Davies and his associate Mark Simeon Jones (both barristers of 3 Doctor Johnson's Buildings, London). The Judge concluded that the evidence never came close to establishing a Belgian domicile of choice as alleged by the so called Family Defendants and determined that "Owen never lost his domicile of origin, and remained domiciled in England", and is further reported in the Stratford Herald on 14 July 2011.
A costs hearing for the domicile case was held on 12 September 2011, and Mr Davies and family was ordered by Mr Charles Hollander QC to pay interim costs of £50000, with the final amount to be determined by a costs judge at a subsequent hearing.
On 18 November 2011 The Honourable Lord Justice Lewison (Kim Lewison) at The Court of Appeal refused permission to appeal on three counts for the anti-suit injunction granted on 20 May 2011, for the preliminary hearing granted on 12 July 2011, and for the stay of costs order of 12 September 2011 which was requested by Davies.
He and his family have since withdrawn their counterclaim against the will of Owen Davies and the final costs hearing was heard by Mr Robert Ham QC on 10 July 2012. Judgement was handed down on 25 July 2012 where the Judge stated that "Putting at it's lowest, much of the Family Defendants' case seems problematic". Davies was ordered to pay the costs of the claimant, with an interim payment of £60000, and the final amount to be agreed.
His legal campaign still continues in Belgium against the beneficiary, with a hearing due in November 2012.
Read more about this topic: Adrian Davies
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