INTEGRAL PETROLEUM SA V MELARS GROUP LTD

[2015] EWHC 1893 (Comm), Queen's Bench Division, Commercial Court, Mr Justice Andrew Smith, 3 July 2015

Arbitration - Jurisdiction - Scope of arbitration clause - Arbitration Act 1996, section 67

By a contract dated 14 December 2011 Integral agreed to sell and Melars to buy 300 mt of gasoil. The contract stated: "This contract shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law. The parties hereby agree to submit all disputes hereunder to the exclusive jurisdiction of the arbitration court in London". Disputes arose, and on 16 April 2012 Integral and Melars entered into an "Agreement on Cancellation" under which the December 2011 agreement was cancelled with immediate effect and the parties agreed that all claims had been settled. Melars then commenced proceedings in Switzerland for debt collection, and also brought criminal proceedings. Integral commenced an arbitration seeking a declaration that there was no basis on which those claims could have been brought. The arbitrator ruled that the arbitration clause did not cover the claims because they did not arise "hereunder" and so he had no jurisdiction. Integral appealed against the arbitrator’s ruling on jurisdiction under section 67 of the Arbitration Act 1996.