Jurisdiction: admission of fresh evidence on appeal

Section 67 of the Arbitration Act 1996 permits an appeal against an award on the ground that the arbitrators have asserted, or not asserted, substantive jurisdiction over a dispute. It is settled that the appeal is not simply a review of the award to determine if the arbitrators have reached a conclusion that was not open to them, but rather is a complete rehearing.

A more difficult question is whether either party is entitled to change tack in the court proceedings and to rely upon evidence not presented to the arbitrators. That is a matter for the court, and the limits of the court’s discretion were discussed by Males J in Central Trading & Exports Ltd v Fioralba Shipping Co [2014] EWHC 2397 (Comm).