Incorporation of arbitration clauses: the agreement of the parties

The courts have in many cases for well over a century discussed the difficult question of whether an arbitration clause has been incorporated into the agreement between the parties. Barrier Ltd v Redhall Marine Ltd [2016] EWHC 381 (QB), a decision of HHJ Behrens sitting as a Judge of the High Court in Leeds, is an excellent illustration of the principles, as it involves an arbitration clause allegedly agreed between the parties themselves and an arbitration clause incorporated from a separate contract involving only one of the parties.

Barrier v Redhall : the facts