Arbitration Law Monthly

Gol Linhas Aereas SA v MatlinPatterson Global Opportunities Partners (Cayman) II LP and Others [2022] UKPC 21; [2022] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 169 was an appeal from the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal to the Privy Council. The judgment, delivered on behalf of the Privy Council by Lords Hamblen and Leggatt, contains a detailed analysis of the operation of the New York Convention.

In York International Pte Ltd v Voltas Ltd [2022] SGHC 153 the High Court of Singapore has decided that an award made conditional on payment of damages by the award creditor to a third party was a final award and not one that could be referred back to the arbitrator if there had been a dispute as to the amount paid.

The decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in London Steam-ship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association Ltd v Kingdom of Spain (The Prestige) [2022] EUECJ C-700/20; [2022] Lloyd’s Rep Plus 95 is for general purposes of historical interest only, although it is likely to cost the insurance industry close to $1 billion in cases arising while the UK was still a member of the EU and thus a party to the EU’s rules on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments under the Brussels Regulation, European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001, as replaced by the Brussels Regulation Recast, European Parliament and Council Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012.

In Ducat Maritime Ltd v Lavender Shipmanagement Inc [2022] EWHC 766 (Comm) the arbitrator by error added to the sum claimed in arbitration the amount of an unsuccessful counterclaim, giving rise to a sum greater than the amount sought. Although the sum awarded was reduced to the amount of the claim, the respondent sought to overturn the award for serious irregularity. The question for Butcher J was whether a clear error of this sort, not admitted by the arbitrator at the time, constituted serious irregularity.