Compagnie Generale Maritime v. Diakan Spirit S.A. (The Ymnos) - Q.B.D. (Com.Ct.) (Robert Goff J.) - 28 July 1982

Whether Court can interfere with arbitrator’s conclusion relating to fundamental breach of contract.

The Court was considering a Special Case stated by an umpire. One of the issues was whether the Court could interfere with the umpire’s conclusion that the owners were in fundamental breach of the relevant charterparty. The charterers contended that any question of fundamental breach or frustration arising in the course of an arbitration was a question of law. The owners submitted that the recent House of Lords decision in The Nema [1981] 3 W.L.R. 292 had changed the position in that now