ADJUDICATOR'S PRELIMINARY VIEW DID NOT BREACH NATURAL JUSTICE

In Lanes Group plc v Galliford Try Infrastructure Ltd [2011] EWCA Civ 1617; [2011] All ER (D) 179 (Dec) the Court of Appeal declined to imply a term into the contract between the parties that a party loses the right to adjudicate if it deliberately and without good reason fails to serve referral documents by the due date. This conclusion would appear to leave the door open to a party who is not content with the appointment of a particular adjudicator to abandon that reference and commence a fresh adjudication. The Court of Appeal also held that the adjudicator had not breached the principles of natural justice in sending to the parties a document entitled ‘Preliminary Views and Findings of Fact’ before he had heard all of the evidence submitted on behalf of the parties. It was held that there is a clear distinction between reaching a final decision prematurely (a breach of natural justice) and reaching a provisional view which is disclosed for the assistance of the parties (not a breach of natural justice). The present case was held to fall within the latter category.

The facts

The facts of the case are set out in greater detail in our June and our August/September 2011 issues and it is not necessary to recount them in detail here. Suffice to say that the defendants were employed as the main contractor on a refurbishment project and the claimants were employed as sub-contractors. The relationship between the parties proved to be a difficult one which resulted in a number of references to adjudication. These adjudications resulted in two further sets of proceedings before the Technology and Construction Court.