Termination of an arbitration agreement

Agreement to terminate and stay of proceedings

In Downing v Al Tameer Establishment [2002] EWCA Civ 721 the Court of Appeal addressed the crucial question of whether the refusal of one party to go to arbitration, and the commencement of judicial proceedings by the other, amounts to an agreement between the parties to bring the arbitration clause to an end so that a stay of the judicial proceedings can no longer be sought. An equally significant issue in this case was whether the question of the continued existence of the clause should be determined by the court itself or whether it should be referred to the arbitrators for a decision on their own jurisdiction under s30 of the Arbitration Act 1996.