International Antisuit Injunctions: Enjoining Foreign Litigations and Arbitrations - Beholding the System from Outside

Antisuit injunctions are issued by a court to prevent a party from bringing suit in another forum. They are a powerful tool available to American courts to implement their decision on jurisdiction. It goes without saying that granting such an injunction de facto affects the capability of the other forum to hear the dispute, which conflicts with the principle of comity. American courts therefore only enjoin a party from proceeding in another forum if certain criteria are satisfied. This paper discusses these criteria in the context of international litigations and arbitrations. It analyzes the case law on this issue and proposes an alternative approach, which approach tries to bring antisuit injunctions into line with other forms of injunctions and suggests, based on the New York Convention, that they should only be granted with reticence in the context of international commercial arbitrations