is an
English contract law
English contract law is the body of law that regulates legally binding agreements in England and Wales. With its roots in the lex mercatoria and the activism of the judiciary during the Industrial Revolution, it shares a heritage with countries ...
case, concerning the formation of a contract that is informally made, and where evidence is contested.
The case involved two
Russian oligarchs
Russian oligarchs () are business oligarchs of the former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in the 1990s via the Russian privatisation that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The failing Soviet state left the ownershi ...
, and was a direct consequence of the
privatization in Russia that followed the collapse of the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. It was also the court's first paperless case.
Commercial Court judge Dame
Elizabeth Gloster
Dame Elizabeth Gloster, Lady Popplewell, Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, DBE, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC (born 5 June 1949) is a British lawyer who was a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales ...
heard the case.
Facts
Boris Berezovsky, known as one of the
Russian oligarchs
Russian oligarchs () are business oligarchs of the former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in the 1990s via the Russian privatisation that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The failing Soviet state left the ownershi ...
who became rich under the presidency of
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...
, claimed that in 1995 he had made a
contract
A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...
with
Roman Abramovich
Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich (born 24 October 1966) is a business oligarch and politician. He is the former owner of Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, a Premier League football club in London, England, and is the primary owner of the private investment com ...
. Berezovsky alleged that the agreement was that he would share in half the profits generated by
Sibneft
Gazprom Neft (; formerly Sibneft, ) is the third largest Petroleum industry, oil producer in Russia and ranked third according to Oil refinery, refining throughput. It is a subsidiary of Gazprom, which owns about 96% of its shares. The company is ...
, a Russian oil company. In 2001, he alleged that he was forced to sell his stake in the company because of threats made by Abramovich when
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
’s government came into power. Abramovich denied any of this was true. The essence of the case was whether there was any credible evidence that an agreement had been made.
Judgment
Gloster J, in the
Commercial Court division of the
High Court, held that Berezovsky was not a credible witness, there had never been a certain agreement intended to be enforceable, and there were no threats.
Significance
The case was the last where
Jonathan Sumption
Jonathan Philip Chadwick Sumption, Lord Sumption, (born 9 December 1948), is a British author, medieval historian, barrister and former senior judge who sat on the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom between 2012 and 2018, and a Non-Permane ...
acted as a
barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...
. He delayed his appointment to the
UK Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (initialism: UKSC) is the final court of appeal for all civil cases in the United Kingdom and all criminal cases originating in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as some limited criminal cases ...
so that he could finish his work on the case. A year later, Berezovsky allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself.
In popular culture
The case was dramatised in
Peter Morgan
Peter Julian Robin Morgan (born 10 April 1963) is a British screenwriter and playwright. He has written for theatre, films and television, often writing about historical events or figures such as Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II, whom he has ...
's 2022 play ''
Patriots
A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism.
Patriot(s) or The Patriot(s) may also refer to:
Political and military groups United States
* Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American R ...
'', which retold the life of Berezovsky.
See also
*
English contract law
English contract law is the body of law that regulates legally binding agreements in England and Wales. With its roots in the lex mercatoria and the activism of the judiciary during the Industrial Revolution, it shares a heritage with countries ...
*
Norebo conflict
*
Burlakov case
Notes
{{reflist
English contract case law
2012 in United Kingdom case law
High Court of Justice cases