Arbitration Law Monthly

Where a challenge is brought in the English courts to an arbitration award, the court may order the applicant to provide security for the costs of the arbitration (section 70(6) of the Arbitration Act 1996) and may also order the applicant to provide security for the sum awarded (section 70(7) of the 1996 Act).

An appeal may be made against an arbitration award on jurisdictional grounds under section 67 of the Arbitration Act 1996. Section 67 applies only where the tribunal has erred in its approach to “substantive jurisdiction”, a term defined in section 30. The courts have construed section 30 narrowly, to prevent decisions on construction being converted into jurisdictional issues.

The question in Glencore Agriculture BV (Formerly Glencore Grain BV) v Conqueror Holdings Ltd (The Amity) [2017] EWHC 2893 (Comm) was whether service of arbitration proceedings by email upon the employee of the charterers who had been in email correspondence with the owners as to delay in loading constituted valid service.

Section 68(2)(d) of the Arbitration Act 1996 provides that an award can be set aside for serious irregularity where a tribunal has failed “to deal with all the issues that were put to it”. In Orascom TMT Investments Sarl v VEON Ltd [2018] EWHC 985 (Comm) the argument before Andrew Baker J was that the tribunal had failed to consider evidence of Italian law on a matter directly relevant to the dispute between the parties.

In China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation v Emerald Energy Resources Ltd [2018] EWHC 1503 (Comm) an application was made for a stay of judicial proceedings commenced under a non-exclusive jurisdiction clause nominating the English courts. The respondent’s argument in favour of a stay was that the parties had agreed to arbitrate disputes under earlier arrangements between them.