QUARELLA SPA V SCELTA MARBLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

[2012] SGHC 166, High Court of Singapore, Judith Prakash J, 14 August 2012

Arbitration - Recourse against award - Setting aside - Whether a wrong interpretation of the choice of law clause by a tribunal justified the setting aside of an award under the Model Law - International Arbitration Act (Cap 143A, 2002 Rev Ed)

Two arbitration awards had been made and the losing party had applied to the court to have them set aside. The issue for decision was as follows. Does a purportedly wrong interpretation of the choice of law clause (chosen by the parties to govern their distributorship agreement) by a tribunal justify a setting aside of an award under article 34(2)(a)(iii) to(2)(a)(iv) of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration ("the Model Law")? There had been some dispute in the arbitration as to whether Italian law or the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (1980) ("CISG") applied to the parties' agreement. The tribunal had decided that CISG was not applicable because the parties' agreement did not contain a contract of sale but was a framework agreement.