Introduction In a judgment issued on 3 October 2019, the Cour de cassation (French Supreme Court) upheld a Court of Appeal decision setting aside an award as a result of an arbitrator’s non-disclosure. The judgment is a helpful illustration of the scope of arbitrators’ obligations in respect of disclosure once a tribunal has been constituted … Read more
In BSG Resources Ltd v Vale SA and others [2019] EWHC 2456 (Comm), the English Commercial Court (the Court) considered five applications concerning an arbitration award dated 4 April 2019 (the Award) which had resulted in an order of the English court for BSGR to pay damages of US$1.247 billion to Vale (the Enforcement Order). … Read more
In Sternberg Reed Solicitors v Harrison [2019] EWHC 2065 (Ch), the High Court decided that an arbitrator had made an error in law in deciding that he could consider correspondence marked “without prejudice” when deciding costs. However, correspondence that is impliedly “without prejudice” could be taken into consideration. Arbitrators usually have broad discretion when considering costs … Read more
In P v. M [2019] HKCFI 1864; HCCT 6/2019 (24 July 2019), the Hong Kong Court of First Instance set aside parts of two arbitral awards which were found to be in breach of procedural fairness resulting in substantial injustice. Background This is the second of two set aside applications arising from the same underlying … Read more
In Calibre M&E Sdn Bhd v PT Cooline HVAC Engineering (Originating Summons Nos. WA-24C(ARB)-47-09/2017 and WA-24C(ARB)-49-10/2017), the Malaysian High Court considered an application to set aside an arbitral award on the basis that the recognition by the tribunal of the allegedly illegal underlying contract was in conflict with the public policy of Malaysia. Section 37 … Read more
In P v D [2019] EWHC 1277 (Comm), the English High Court set aside an arbitral award on the basis that the tribunal had reached a finding of fact on a core issue that had not properly been put to a witness in cross-examination and that the tribunal had based its decision on a case … Read more
In the recent case of ZCCM Investments Holdings PLC v Kansanshi Holdings PLC & Anor [2019] EWHC 1285 (Comm), the English Court (the Court) rejected a challenge under s.68 of the English Arbitration Act 1996 (the Act) and provided useful guidance on the test for determining whether a tribunal’s decision qualifies as an award for … Read more
In the recent decision of Equitas Insurance Limited v Municipal Mutual Insurance Limited [2019] EWCA Civ 718 (available here), the Court of Appeal allowed an appeal on a point of law under section 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 (the “Act“) against an award rendered by Flaux LJ as judge-arbitrator. The award concerned a dispute … Read more
The English Commercial court has overturned an arbitral award under section 67 of the English Arbitration Act 1996, finding that an arbitral tribunal lacked substantive jurisdiction because the respondent company in the arbitration had been dissolved by the time the notice of arbitration was filed (in GA-Hyun Chung v Silver Dry Bulk Co Ltd [2019] … Read more
