Nicholas James Care Homes Ltd v Liberty Homes (Kent) Ltd [2023] EWHC 360 (TCC)
Mr Recorder Andrew Singer KC judgment 21 February 2023
There were three issues before the court.
(1) Should the Decision of the adjudicator (Dr Chern) be enforced summarily (the
Decision)?
(2) Should a freezing injunction obtained by the claimant (NJCH) be discharged or
continued?
(3) Should there be a stay of execution of enforcement of the Decision of Dr
Chern?
NJCH had employed the defendant, Liberty, for construction works at its Beacon Hill
care home. There were two adjudications between the parties, the Decision in the
second of which was the subject of several applications before the court. The first
application in time was an application to enforce the Decision. The second was an
application by Liberty to discharge a freezing injunction granted by O'Farrell J. The
third was Liberty's application for a stay of execution of any judgment. Liberty also
made a part 8 application based on its objections to the enforcement
application.
At the heart of Liberty's case was an assertion that 'the way in which Dr Chern
demanded payment for his services in advance of the delivery of the Decision' in a
series of emails sent by Dr Chern's clerk amounted to the purported exercise of lien
for payment before he would issue his Decision. That, it was argued, amounted to
manifest bias, and the result was that the Decision was not enforceable.
Pursuant to his terms of appointment, Dr Chern required each party to deposit
£10,000 by way of security for his fees. In response, Liberty's solicitors made it clear
that Liberty was reserving its position on its jurisdictional arguments (both raised in
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