Deepak Nagpal of 1KBW successfully acted for the Secretary of State for Justice in the Supreme Court in the landmark case of Villiers v Villiers.
The Supreme Court has today held that the English court has no power to stay proceedings for maintenance, instituted under s27 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, in favour of Scotland where there were ongoing divorce proceedings. In dismissing the husband’s appeal, the Supreme Court also rejected the husband’s argument that insofar as the relevant Regulations removed the power to stay maintenance proceedings in such circumstances, they were ultra vires section 2 of the European Communities Act 1972.
The Press Summary prepared by the Supreme Court can be found here.
The judgment of the Supreme Court can be found here.