The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Joint Stock Company “State Transport Leasing Company” against High Court declarations that pledge agreements over 37 aircraft held by GTLK Europe DAC were void. The court did not decide the appeal on the merits: it found that preliminary objections raised by GTLK’s joint liquidators were sufficient to dispose of it.
The dispute arose after the liquidators, appointed when GTLK entered liquidation in May 2023, sought declarations under section 631 of the Companies Act 2014. They said the March 2022 agreements purported to give JSC security over aircraft in return for advances. JSC later claimed ownership of the aircraft under those agreements. On 19 December 2023, after a hearing at which JSC did not participate, the High Court declared the pledges void.
JSC argued on appeal that it had been unable to obtain Irish legal representation before the High Court hearing. The Court of Appeal rejected that explanation, finding that JSC had made a deliberate tactical choice not to participate and had instead pursued anti-suit proceedings in Russia. The judgment noted that JSC had received the Irish proceedings, had been offered a remote link and had not asked the High Court for more time to obtain lawyers. It also referred to evidence the court said did not support JSC’s account of its efforts to secure representation.
The court also held that JSC’s unconditional appearance in Ireland in January 2024 amounted to an unequivocal submission to the Irish courts’ jurisdiction. It therefore could not maintain its jurisdictional challenge while invoking the Court of Appeal’s jurisdiction to hear its appeal. The court said the appeal also sought to raise issues that had not been argued before the High Court, where JSC had not appeared.
The panel concluded that the appeal was not brought bona fide and was a manifest abuse of process. It dismissed the appeal in its entirety and vacated the full appeal hearing listed for 1 and 2 July 2024. Costs were not finally determined: the liquidators appeared entitled to the costs of the application and appeal, but JSC was given 14 days to submit written arguments against that proposed order, with the liquidators allowed a further 14 days to respond.