Motorola Wins Another Battle in its Turkish Battle

Motorola has just announced that on July 31st, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, the highest court of Switzerland, dismissed four appeals brought by members of the Uzan family of Turkey, of a lower Swiss court decision enforcing the July 2002 Worldwide Freezing Orders from the United Kingdom. In doing so, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court upheld the domestications of the UK Worldwide Freezing Orders in Switzerland, which were granted by the Supreme Court of the Canton of Zurich on March 31, 2003, including its determination that Motorola had established a likelihood of prevailing in its fraud case against the Uzans.

The Swiss Federal Supreme Court's decision preserves up to US$800 million of the Uzans' assets in Switzerland pending enforcement of the July 31, 2003 judgment that was issued by the Honorable Jed S. Rakoff of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York regarding Motorola's substantive fraud claim against the Uzans.

Motorola noted the Swiss Federal Supreme Court ruling takes precedence over and renders largely irrelevant a decision from a lower court in Geneva refusing to attach certain Uzan assets. The Uzans had relied on this Geneva decision in attempting to blunt the impact of Judge Rakoff's July 31, 2003 US$4.26 billion decision in favor of Motorola.

The Uzans resisted the domestication of the UK Worldwide Freezing Orders in Switzerland over many months. In this landmark decision, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court upholds the regime of the Lugano Convention aimed at facilitating the enforcement of foreign decisions in the convention states such as Switzerland and the UK. It makes sure that foreign decisions rendered "inter partes" can be enforced abroad."

Posted to the site on 7th August 2003