As insolvency lawyers wait with bated breath for the Supreme Court’s decision in Servis-Terminal v Drelle, which is due on 27 July 2026, the Isle of Man High Court has this month rightly refused to follow the English Court of Appeal in Drelle and instead confirmed that an unrecognised foreign judgment can indeed support a statutory demand in insolvency.
In Grover v Wilton Group Limited, His Honour Deemster Cope agreed that he was bound by the Isle of Man Appeal Division’s judgment in Obertor v Gaetano (2DS 2010/17 judgment date 25 November 2010). Deemster Cope’s judgment is worth a read and a link is here.
Meanwhile, watch this space and let’s hope that the Supreme Court overturns the Court of Appeal and brings back common sense and logic to this issue, just as His Honour Deemster Corlett did at first instance in Obertor back in 2010. At paragraph 22 of his judgment, Deemster Corlett put the position clearly and succinctly:
“It seems to me that if [counsel for the Defendant was] correct, a largely unwarranted extra step would have to be taken by those in the position of [the Claimant], namely registration of that judgment prior to the winding up proceedings being taken. That would, illogically in my view, be a step which would not have to be taken by a party who alleged that a foreign debt was owing, there being no judgment obtained in respect of that debt.”
Tom Maher attended the Drelle hearing in the Supreme Court in June 2026 and his sense of the hearing (taking the ill-advised risk of making a prediction as to what judges are going to say) is that the Supreme Court is likely to overturn the Court of Appeal. Watch this space.
To read our article on the Court of Appeal’s judgment in Drelle, click here or Google “Plot twist Maher”.
For more information on how Maher Law’s specialist dispute resolution team can assist in relation to Isle of Man insolvency and other Chancery litigation, please contact Tom Maher at tom@maher.im.
22 July 2026
.png)
.png)
