Statement from Julian Ribet on Princess Marie-Therese Hohenberg Bailey’s ongoing litigation

Sep 29

Yesterday one of our partners, Julian Ribet, was in the Family Division of the High Court to seek permission to apply for Anthony Bailey to be committed to prison for contempt of court. Mr Bailey has failed to pay his former wife in the region of £2m in accordance with a Court order relating to their divorce.

The matter has been reported by The Telegraph and The Daily Mail.

Julian commented:

“No parent involved in a financial case on divorce wants to have to bring an application for the committal of the other parent to prison. But in certain, rare cases, when there is blatant, repeated and wilful non-compliance with Court orders then it may be necessary to ensure that justice is done and a fair outcome is achieved as envisaged by the court”.

“Sadly for Mrs Bailey this is such a case. Having been involved in litigation with Mr Bailey for over 5 years and given the approach that he has chosen to adopt she has no option but to ask the Court to intervene to compel Mr Bailey to do that which he has already been ordered to do by the Court. She has not taken this step lightly.

“It is right that in these rare circumstances the Family Courts should make the kind of order we are seeking – litigants need to know that they must comply with Court orders and that the system will ensure that there is compliance with orders that have been made. Justice must be done, not just seem to be done, for those who put their faith in the system.”