Forward to the Fifth Edition of Commercial Injunctions

By The Right Honourable Lord Hoffman

With this edition, the book and its subjects have reached an age of sober maturity. The respectability of the subject is shown by the change of name from Mareva Injunctions and Anton Piller orders to Commercial Injunctions. The heroic days, in which Mr Laddie - not yet Laddie J. or even Laddie Q.C. - could invent a new remedy in an afternoon and have it named after the case in which it was first granted, are over. The commercial injunctions are now sanctioned by statute and regulated by the Civil Procedure Rules. A substantial jurisprudence has been built up around them both in England and the rest of the common law world.

Likewise, the book is now an established authority, regularly cited in England and abroad. As I pointed out in the foreword to the fourth edition, it owes its success to the energy and enthusiasm of the author, who seldom leaves any knotty point unconsidered or relevant authority uncited. The new edition shows that he has not been content to rest upon his laurels. One of the dangers of successful legal text books which pass through several editions is that the structure laid out in the beginning becomes choked with additions and footnotes which detract from the clarity of exposition. No such complaint can be made about this edition, in which many parts have been entirely recast to reflect developments in the law. It is therefore a pleasure for me to have another opportunity to commend it to the profession.

Lord Hoffmann
London
August 2004