The High Court continued the stay of the proceedings for the enforcement of PCA awards rendered under the Energy Charter Treaty. The stay had been granted in 2016 pending the appeal before the Court of Appeal of The Hague of a first instance decision setting the awards aside; the stay had been granted with liberty to apply following that decision. On 18 February 2020 the The Hague Court reinstated the awards; an appeal against this decision was pending before the Supreme Court of the Netherlands. The claimants now applied to lift the stay or, subsidiarily, to adjourn the proceeding conditional upon Russia providing security in an appropriate amount. Russia claimed that the enforcement proceedings ought to remain subject to an unconditional stay or adjournment until the final resolution of the appeal to the Dutch Supreme Court, including any reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union made in the course of that appeal. The High Court concluded that the Claimants’ application should be dismissed, and that the stay should continue, without the provision of security, pending the final outcome of the proceedings in the Netherlands, as in its view (i) there was a realistic prospect that Russia would ultimately prevail before the Supreme Court of the Netherlands (the High Court considered Russia’s prospects of success above the lower end of the scale; (ii) Russia was not pursuing its appeal merely as a delaying tactic; and (iii) the risk of unfairness if Russia were to be unable to put forth its full case on state immunity as a result of the binding effect of the decision of the Court of Appeal, which decision might be reversed later by the Supreme Court of the Netherlands. The High Court relied on the principles of comity, avoidance of inconsistent decisions and efficiency in arriving at its decision.