Crescent case referred to Supreme Court

According to Energy Press, an informed source told IRNA in London that the British Court of Appeal has agreed to refer the Crescent case to the country’s Supreme Court, thus postponing the execution of the confiscation order for the old and valuable building of the Oil Industry Employees’ Pension Fund.
The informed source, who asked not to be named, announced that following Iran’s objection to the Court of Appeal’s ruling, it has been decided to refer the case to the Supreme Court for re-examination. According to him, the disagreement between the three judges of the Court of Appeal has paved the way for the case to be referred to a higher authority and the possibility of a change of ruling.
On October 27, 2021, the British Court of Appeal had confirmed the London Court of First Instance’s ruling on the confiscation of the Oil Industry Employees’ Pension Fund building on Victoria Street in favor of the Emirati company Crescent.
Crescent claims that the National Iranian Oil Company transferred the property known as “NIOC House” to the Oil Industry Employees’ Pension and Welfare Fund in order to remove its assets from the reach of creditors.
The English Court of First Instance had previously described the transfer as “a transaction for less than its true value and with the purpose of preventing the collection of the claim” and ruled that the transfer was invalid, citing section 423 of the Bankruptcy Act. The National Iranian Oil Company and the Pension Fund appealed against this ruling, but the Court of Appeal rejected their arguments and upheld the previous ruling.
The Court of Appeal had stated that the documents submitted regarding the ownership of the Fund did not meet the legal requirements and therefore would not prevent the execution of the seizure order to recover part of the compensation determined in the Crescent arbitration.
However, on 11 Mehr 1404, Iranian lawyers filed a formal objection to this ruling and requested a review in the Supreme Court.
At the same time, a group of oil industry employees, including pensioners and survivors of deceased pensioners of the National Iranian Oil Company, announced their objection to the rulings issued by the English courts by signing an electronic petition on the Change website.