In Ducat Maritime Ltd v Lavender Shipmanagement Inc [2022] EWHC 766 (Comm), the English High Court set aside part of an award under section 68(2)(a) of the Arbitration Act 1996 on the grounds that an ‘obvious accounting mistake’ by an arbitrator had breached the duty of fairness under section 33 of the Arbitration Act 1996. … Read more

The UK Government has introduced a new statutory scheme under the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022 (the 2022 Act) for the resolution of disputes between landlords and tenants in relation to rent arrears accrued during the pandemic. The background to the scheme and when it may be used is discussed in our earlier blog here. … Read more

Kei (a protected party by his litigation friend) v Hua She Asset Management (Shanghai) Company Ltd [2022] EWHC 662 (Comm), before Miss Julia Dias QC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge in the Commercial Court). The English High Court restated the principles applicable to a section 103 application under the Arbitration Act 1996 (the … Read more

The Commercial Court has rejected an attempt to challenge an LCIA award on grounds of serious irregularity under section 68(2)(a) of the Arbitration Act 1996: Livian GmbH v Elektra Ltd and another [2022] EWHC 757 (Comm). The Court held that the contention that the Tribunal had overlooked undisputed witness testimony could not form the basis … Read more

HSF Partner Simon Chapman QC and Associate Olga Dementyeva have recently written an article for LexisPSL on the English Court’s decision in Soleymani v Nifty Gateway [2022] EWHC 733 (Comm) relating to non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The article can be found here. This article was first published by Lexis®PSL on 11 April 2022 and can be found … Read more

In Fairpark Estates Ltd and others v Heals Property Developments Ltd [2022] EWHC 496 (Ch), the English High Court upheld an order dismissing the appellants’ application for a stay of legal proceedings. The Court found that the appellants had taken steps in the proceedings to answer the substantive claims, so could not apply for a … Read more

The Commercial Court has dismissed an application to set aside an order which dismissed challenges under sections 67 and 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 (AA 1996) on the papers and refused permission to appeal under AA 1996, s 69. In doing so, the Commercial Court has provided concrete guidance on the court’s approach to … Read more

The Commercial Court has held that a shipowner was entitled to rely on a force majeure clause in a shipping contract where its charterer’s parent company became subject to US sanctions – allowing an appeal from an arbitration award on a point of law under section 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996: MUR Shipping BV … Read more