On 24 July 2026, Mr Justice Picken handed down the Commercial Court’s judgment in Soprim Construction SARL v The Republic of Djibouti & others [2026] EWHC 1850 (Comm).
Soprim Construction SARL (“Soprim”), represented by Harcus Parker, succeeded at trial, obtaining a final charging order over approximately US$42 million held in Standard Chartered Bank accounts in London. Soprim was opposed at trial by Dubai Ports World, represented by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP.
Although the accounts were held in the name of Doraleh Container Terminal SA (“DCT“), Soprim successfully argued that the funds were beneficially owned by the Republic of Djibouti, pursuant to a trust entered into by the administrator of DCT and the Republic, and were therefore available to satisfy its unpaid arbitral awards exceeding US$150 million.
The Court’s decision covered various English and French/Djiboutian legal issues including the proper law of trusts under the Hague Trusts Convention, natural justice challenges to the recognition of foreign judgments, and competing enforcement claims and the “first past the post” principle.
The judgment represents vindication for Soprim and its General Manager Mr Abdourahman Boreh in their almost two-decade long quest for justice, following the unlawful seizure of Soprim’s equipment and destruction of its business in 2008. This formed part of an ongoing campaign by the Republic to ruin Mr Boreh, previously described by the Commercial Court as “persecution”, which included concocting false evidence and obtaining bogus convictions against Mr Boreh (including for terrorism), harassing and intimidating him and his family and obtaining an Interpol Red Notice against him. Some of these matters were the subject of judgments of the Commercial Court in Republic of Djibouti & ors v Boreh & ors [2016] EWHC 405 (Comm). In those proceedings, the Court dismissed a Freezing Order obtained in reliance upon the false terrorism conviction and dismissed the Republic’s US$100m plus claim against Mr Boreh for bribery, awarding Mr Boreh indemnity costs.
The judgment can be found here.
The Harcus Parker team (Adam Zoubir, Rob Salek, Nitisha Acharya, Eliza Mitsinga and Ranja Kaftan) instructed Tim Akkouh KC, Edward Mordaunt and Ellen Tims of Essex Court Chambers.