British court could force Andrew to give evidence, says US lawyer

An agreement between Britain and the US could compel Prince Andrew to comply with the court, an American lawyer says.

Britain's Prince Andrew, the Duke of York. Picture: AFP

English and US lawyers have clashed over whether the Duke of York could be forced by a UK court to present evidence in Virginia Giuffre’s case against him.

Lisa Bloom, an American lawyer who has acted for victims of the financier Jeffrey Epstein, told the BBC that an agreement between Britain and the US meant that Prince Andrew could be compelled to comply with the court.

Bloom has accused Andrew of attempting to “dodge and duck” a civil claim brought by Giuffre for alleged sexual assault.

Bloom said that Giuffre’s case was likely to proceed despite claims by Andrew’s lawyer that he has not been properly served under UK or international law. “No one is above the law,” Bloom told Today on BBC Radio 4.

A lawyer in London with experience of international claims said that Bloom “was jumping ahead”. Mark Stephens, a partner at the law firm Howard Kennedy, said that Bloom was referring to provisions in the Hague Evidence Convention, but that Andrew could avoid the case progressing that far.

Stephens said: “For those provisions to apply two things must happen first: Andrew must accept proper service of the claim and, second, he must submit to the jurisdiction of the New York court.”

Prince Andrew, Virginia Roberts Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell pictured together in 2001. Picture: Supplied

He said Andrew would be advised not to engage with the substantive claim in the New York court and that Giuffre’s legal team must abide by the civil procedure rules of English courts.

Proper service of civil law claims in England can be achieved by first-class post to a known address of the respondent, who is considered to be served within three working days. Recently they have accepted service in civil claims via email and social media.

Andrew’s lawyers claimed at a hearing in New York that their client had not been properly served because the legal papers were handed to a police officer at a gatehouse at Andrew’s home in Windsor Great Park.

The second hurdle for Giuffre’s legal team will be persuading Andrew to submit to the jurisdiction of the New York court. If he refuses, it is likely that the court will hand down a default ruling in Giuffre’s favour. Stephens said that “the English court will not enforce the order as it will rule that Andrew had not submitted to that court’s jurisdiction”.

He added that a jury in New York was likely to “award significant damages ... far larger than would be awarded in England. That may provide Giuffre with public vindication, but she will only be able to enforce the damages award if Andrew travels to America”.

Bloom had a conference call with Andrew Brettler, who is acting for the prince, in which he said Giuffre had a prior agreement “releasing the duke and others from any and all potential liability”. Giuffre claims she was trafficked by Epstein, Andrew’s former friend and a convicted sex offender, to have sex with the prince when she was 17 and a minor under US law.

Andrew has long denied the allegations and has not been charged with any crime.

Bloom told Today: “We have a legal co-operation agreement between the US and the UK and everybody who is sued says it’s unfair and unjust ... but that’s not good enough. We have system and a process and especially when it comes to sexual assault cases [Giuffre is] entitled to her day in court, he’s entitled to present all his defences.”

Under the convention, English courts will assist US courts to obtain oral and documentary evidence from witnesses resident in England and Wales.

Bloom said that a UK court could enforce the co-operation agreement and that she believed it was “a matter of time” before the duke would have to comply. “Everybody dodges and ducks and runs and hides and says the case is invalid ... that’s not enough. We have a court system, and no one is above the law,” she said. “I think that Prince Andrew is trying to dodge and hide and duck service, which is not a good look.”

In Monday’s hearing Judge Lewis Kaplan, sitting in the US district court in Manhattan, gave the parties a week to agree on service of the papers.

Q&A

What are the next steps in the Giuffre-Prince Andrew legal tussle?

Legal experts in London anticipate that the Duke of York’s lawyers in New York will bring as many procedural points as possible. They will start by pressing the US courts to unseal a 2009 settlement between Virginia Giuffre and Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who killed himself in jail in 2019. A federal judge has rejected the application to unseal the settlement, but it is expected that Prince Andrew’s lawyers will appeal.

“They will appeal everything,” one English lawyer, said, including any adverse rulings in New York on whether Andrew has been properly served with proceedings and whether the New York court has jurisdiction over him.

Could the claim proceed in the New York court without Andrew participating?

Yes, and it is expected that Giuffre will win a judgment in default and be awarded a five or six-figure sum. Civil law damages in the US, where trials are heard by juries, are much higher than in British courts, where they are set by judges.

What is Andrew’s best legal strategy?

English lawyers have recommended that he keeps silent and that he does not engage with any substantive hearing in New York.

Even if Giuffre is awarded damages, she is unlikely to be able to enforce the order in the UK if the English court accepts that Andrew did not submit to the US court’s jurisdiction. Provided Andrew does not travel to the US, Giuffre’s victory will be mostly symbolic. If he does, she could enforce damages against him.

The Times