Abstract

To temper the extraterritoriality of the anti-suit injunctions (“ASIs”) issuing from the foreign courts in Chinese admiralty proceedings is integral to the construction of the foreign-related rule of law in China, as it is crucial for both sustaining the judicial sovereignty of the country and safeguarding the legitimate interest of Chinese litigants overseas before the foreign courts in the maritime realm. Premised on a synthesis of the inherent interfering feature of foreign issued ASIs, a shift in the responses from Chinese Maritime Courts to the undue interference such ASI has induced is highlighted in the article, from which a need for a structured and inherently cohesive mechanism for countering such interference is crystallised. The judicial objectives and principles pertaining to the court practices revolving around the ASI are revisited consequently. Diverse courses of action that the Maritime Courts may take in the differentiated and interrelated situations are formulated, as a corollary of the revisited judicial objectives and principles, with a view to combating the extraterritorial effect of foreign issued ASIs in Chinese admiralty proceedings.

Key Words: anti-suit injunction, extraterritoriality, admiralty, judicial objectives, course of action, foreign-related rule of law.