Arbitration following an admission of liability

Arbitration clauses refer to disputes and differences. An unresolved question in English law is whether there can be a dispute if the respondent in the arbitration has admitted his liability for the sum claimed but has simply failed to pay it. In Exfin Shipping (India) Ltd Mumbai v Tolani Shipping Co Mumbai [2006] EWHC 1090 (Comm) Langley J held that in these circumstances the correct enforcement mechanism for the claimant was to proceed to arbitration and to obtain an award, rather than to apply to the courts for summary judgment. Although at first sight the point may be conceptually difficult, the judgment demonstrates the commercial sense of this conclusion.