When is an arbitral award final?
- By Francesca Richmond, Baker & McKenzie,
for YIAG
(AND WHY A RECENT ENGLISH HIGH COURT DECISION REMINDS US THAT A FINAL, BINDING AND CONCLUSIVE AWARD IS NOT NECESSARILY IMMUNE FROM CHALLENGE)
Finality is a fundamental characteristic of arbitration and a key factor that attracts many parties to choose arbitration when providing for a contractual dispute resolution mechanism. This is because the ability to enforce an arbitral award before a national court, and minimise the risk of a challenge or appeal of that arbitral award before national courts, is valuable to any claimant – both in terms of cost and time.
However, the question of the ability of national courts to adopt primary or secondary jurisdiction following an arbitral awa [...]
English court sets aside an award on the basis of serious irregularity, but confirms the doctrine has limited scope
- By Francesca Richmond, Baker & McKenzie,
for YIAG
A recent decision of the English High Court (F Ltd v M Ltd [2009] EWHC 275 (TCC)) confirms that the Court may intervene and allow successful challenge of an arbitral award in order to protect parties against the unfair conduct of an arbitration. However, the case also demonstrates that the applicable test (i.e. a serious irregularity in the conduct of proceedings causing substantial injustice to a party) remains a high bar to establishing that an arbitral award should be set aside. The case is also unusual in that the dissenting opinion of a member of the arbitral tribunal provided the meat for challenge in this case – illustrating the risks attaching to a lack of unity amongst tribunal memb [...]
