Dimskal Shipping v ITWF (The Evia Luck) [1991]4 All ER 871 Court of Appeal

The ITWF threatened strike action unless certain demands were met. The cost of strike action would be astronomical for Dimskal and therefore they agreed to the demands. They later sought to have the agreement set aside as being procured by duress. There was clearly present a coercion of the will and absence of choice the main question for the court was the legitimacy of the pressure. At the time of the threatened strike the Evia Luck was in Sweden. The court had to determine whether English law applied or Swedish law applied to the threatened strike action as under Swedish law the threatened strike would be lawful so there would be no illegitimate pressure applied, however, under English law the strike would be unlawful and the threat would be regarded as illegitimate.

Held:

English law applied and the threat was therefore unlawful and illegitimate.

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