In an appellate judgment, the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia has ruled that a foreign arbitral award is not enforceable because the arbitral tribunal was not constituted strictly in accordance with the parties’ arbitration agreement. Notably, the decision also considers the courts’ discretion to enforce an award even where a party establishes … Read more

In a “highly unusual case“, the Hong Kong High Court has held an award rendered in HKIAC arbitration proceedings “manifestly invalid” on the basis that the tribunal’s findings were inconsistent with an earlier award rendered in a separate arbitration but involving the same parties and one of the same arbitrators. The dispute in W v … Read more

In STA v OFY [2021] EWHC 1574 (Comm), the English High Court refused to grant an extension of time to an applicant seeking to challenge an arbitral award under s68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 (the “Act“), in circumstances where the applicant had let lapse a prior extension order. The Court’s analysis in this case … Read more

In a recent post, we discussed Australia’s pro-enforcement approach to foreign arbitral awards. A recent case of the Victorian Court of Appeal (VCA) affirms this approach in relation to domestic awards. In Pinchus Feldman and Yosef Feldman v Corey Stephen Tayar [2021] VSCA 185, the VCA considered an appeal from a decision to order enforcement … Read more

In the recent decision in Betamax Ltd v State Trading Corporation (Mauritius) [2021] UKPC 14 the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (the “Privy Council“) found that the Supreme Court of Mauritius was wrong to set aside an international arbitration award on the basis that the award was contrary to the public policy of Mauritius, … Read more

In a previous post, we reported the Supplemental Arrangement Concerning Mutual Enforcement of Arbitral Awards between the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which was concluded on 27 November 2020. The Supplemental Arrangement was a welcome development that clarified and removed certain restrictions in the mutual enforcement regime between Hong Kong and Mainland … Read more

“Losing does not equate to procedural unfairness” – Justice Martin Losers beware! A recent decision of the Supreme Court of Western Australia has reaffirmed its support of the arbitral system and processes, and made it very clear that attempts to circumvent them will be met with short rebuke and may even be the subject of … Read more

In the recent decision of RAV Bahamas Ltd and another v Therapy Beach Club Incorporated the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (the “Privy Council”) considered that s90 of the Bahamas Arbitration Act 2009 (the “Bahamas Arbitration Act”) – which provides for challenges to arbitration awards on the grounds of serious irregularity – did not … Read more