Extension of time

Section 12 of the Arbitration Act 1996 permits the court to extend a contractual time limit for the commencement of arbitration proceedings. The terms of s12 are deliberately drafted in a restrictive fashion, and it is apparent from the decided cases that the courts will extend time only in exceptional circumstances. The most important feature of SOS Corporación Alimentaria, SA v Inerco Trade SA [2010] EWHC 162 (Comm) was that the arbitrators were themselves given power to extend time, but had refused to do so, Hamblen J recognised that the existence of that power made judicial intervention an even more remote possibility. The decision draws a clear distinction between the wide discretion of the court to extend time under s27 of the Arbitration Act 1950, and the approach taken under the 1996 Act.

SOS: the arbitration clause

The case involved two arbitrations conducted under FOSFA Rules. Article 2 provides that: