Arbitration Law Monthly

In Province of Balochistan v Tethyan Copper Co Pty Ltd [2021] EWHC 1884 (Comm) Robin Knowles J explored important issues affecting challenges to the jurisdiction of the tribunal under section 67 of the Arbitration Act 1996. The case emphasises the significance of the waiver principle set out in section 73 of the 1996 Act, preventing a jurisdictional argument being raised on an appeal to the court if that argument had not been put to the tribunal.

In Ulusoy Denizilik AS v COFCO Global Harvest (Zhangjiagang) Trading Co Ltd (The Ulusoy-11) [2020] EWHC 3645 (Comm); [2021] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 177 Bryan J discussed the question whether an arbitration clause in a charterparty had been incorporated into bills of lading issued by the owner. The case raised a series of familiar issues, namely: which law determined the incorporation issue; did the incorporation apply to the head charter or sub-charter; and were there any reasons to refuse the grant of an anti-suit injunction to prevent proceedings in China in breach of the clause.

In Armada Ship Management (S) Pte Ltd v Schiste Oil and Gas Nigeria Ltd [2021] EWHC 1094 (Comm); [2021] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 329 Cockerill J considered an application by the claimant, with the permission of the arbitrator, for a preliminary ruling under section 32 of the Arbitration Act 1996 on the validity of the arbitrator’s appointment. The question of principle posed by the application was whether a section 32 application should be permitted to go ahead in circumstances where the respondent had refused to participate in the arbitration and had thus relied upon its rights under section 72 of the 1996 Act to challenge the jurisdiction of the tribunal.

The rather complex facts of Tugushev v Orlov [2021] EWHC 926 (Comm); [2021] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 205 gave rise to two questions before Sir Nigel Teare. First, in the context of stay of proceedings under section 9 of the Arbitration Act 1996, what is a “matter” agreed between the parties to be referred to arbitration? Secondly, where the parties seek to wind up their earlier contractual relationships in a single settlement agreement, is the arbitration clause in that agreement to be construed as applying to disputes under the earlier contracts?