Search Orders and Preservation Injunctions After Imerman

SAIMA YOUNIS AND AMY KISSER, Barristers, Queen Elizabeth Building, Temple

In Imerman v Tchenguiz and Others [2010] EWCA Civ 908, [2010] 2 FLR 814 the Court of Appeal held, inter alia, that parties could no longer rely on what had become known as the ‘Hildebrand rules' to take and copy their ex-spouse's documents. Instead, parties should make applications for the alternative remedies available in all civil proceedings, such as freezing injunctions, search orders, and preservation injunctions in order to obtain and preserve evidence for use in the proceedings. This article will seek to address the law, practice and procedure in relation to the latter two remedies, as unlike freezing injunctions, these have been extremely rare applications in the Family Division.

To read the rest of this article, see January [2011] Family Law journal.

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