British High Court Adjourns Trial in Russian Oligarch's Case Due to Sanctions

The England and Wales High Court adjourned a trial involving Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, only recently releasing the May 6 judgment publicly. Deripaska was sanctioned by many of the world's leading economies in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. As a result, the defendant cannot pay his lawyers for legal representation in the present case, so the legal team is "coming off the record." The lawyers applied to adjourn to avoid an unfair trial. In vacating the case, Justice Sara Cockerill ruled she is "satisfied in this significant hard-fought and complex case a fair trial would not be possible -- however dim a view one takes of Mr Deripaska's past actions." The case involves a long-running dispute over alleged breaches by Deripaska, with Navigator Equities obtaining an arbitral award against the oligarch.