Appraisal of Mareva Injunction as an Equitable Preemptive Remedy in Debt Recovery in Nigeria

Abstract

Litigation is often time consuming and expensive. Cases can be in court sometimes for over ten years or more. Commercial litigation cannot absorb such delay. Speed and efficacy are becoming the criteria by which success in commercial litigation most especially debt recovery is to be judged, as legal practice is forced to match the ever increasing vigour of the commercial place. Many debtors are known to dissipate their assets both movable and immovable when they are threatened with litigation such that in the event of court judgment, the creditors are left with nothing to fall back on, thereby leaving the court’s judgment unenforceable. To prevent a situation like this, the English courts have developed the law to take care of the interests of creditors. A Mareva Injunction prevents the injustice of defendant/debtor from taking away his property or assets from the jurisdiction of the court, which assets might otherwise have been able to satisfy a judgment.