Evans J said that there was a broad distinction between clauses which referred ‘only those disputes which may arise regarding the rights and obligations which are created by the contract itself’ and those which ‘show an intention to refer some wider class or classes of disputes.’ The former may be said to arise ‘under’ the contract while the latter would arise ‘in relation to’ or ‘in connection with’ the contract. If a contract is invalid, so is any arbitration clause included within it. This rule ‘owes as much to logic as it does to authority’.
Judges:
Evans J
Citations:
[1988] 2 Lloyds Rep 62
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Fiona Trust and Holding Corporation and others v Privalov and others CA 24-Jan-2007
The court was asked whether when contracts have been induced by bribery and have been rescinded on discovery of the bribery, that constitutes a dispute which can be determined by arbitration in the context of a common form of arbitration clause.
Doubted – Harbour Assurance Co (Uk) Ltd v Kansa General International Insurance Co Ltd 1993
The Court said that older (pre Heyman v Darwins Ltd) authorities about the width of arbitration clauses had to be approached with some care and that the words ‘arising from the contract’ have almost invariably been treated as ‘words of very wide . .
Cited – Premium Nafta Products Ltd (20th Defendant) and others v Fili Shipping Company Ltd and others; Fiona Trust and Holding Corporation v Privalov HL 17-Oct-2007
The owners of a ship sought to rescind charters saying that they had been procured by bribery.
Held: A claim to rescind a contract by reason of bribery fell within the scope of an arbitration clause under which the parties had agreed to refer . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Contract
Updated: 07 May 2022; Ref: scu.248223