MA Law (Solicitors) LLP
Girgis & another v The General Secretariat of the League of Arab States
2013
The Claimants had been summariliy dismissed by the Defendant. They brought an action in the High Court for wrongful dismissal, unfair dismissal and religious discrimination with the Defendant arguing that it was not considered a legal entity within the UK and therefore could not be pursued in the English courts. The contrary was successfully argued based on international treaties and the doctrine of Comity of Nations. This conferred legal status on the Defendant in the UK meaning the English courts had jurisdiction to determine the dispute.
Yousry Mohamed Abd Sebak v Gracechurch International
2013
This was a complex case concerning whether a party could rely on an oral agreement to bring into existence a tenancy of a commercial property. A Draft lease was submitted and negotiations for a written lease broke down resulting in no written lease being executed. It was successfuly argued at trial that since the statutory formalities for a lease had not been complied with the oral agreement for the acquisition of an interest in land was void and could not be validated by invoking resulting, implied or contsructive trusts.