Jurisdiction: tiered dispute resolution clauses

English law has at long last caught up with that of other leading arbitral nations and recognised a distinction between jurisdiction and admissibility. The former permits a challenge by the court on the basis that the tribunal had no power to hear the matter allegedly referred to it. The latter allows the tribunal to make its own decisions on procedural issues without judicial intervention. In NWA and Another v NVF and Others [2021] EWHC 2666 (Comm) Calver J held that the decision of an arbitrator to hear a case despite there being a dispute as to whether a precondition for mediation had been satisfied was one that went to admissibility rather than jurisdiction.

NWA : the contractual background