The parties went to arbitration to resolve disputes in a construction contract. The award appeared to have been made for payment in currencies different from those set out in the contract. The question was asked as to whether the award of interest was a matter of law or of procedure.
Held: The issue of currency was not one of procedure, and should have been settled according to the applicable law, that of Lesotho. Where the law of a different jurisdiction, such as the law of Lesotho, confers a substantive right to interest ex mora, there is no room for any discretionary procedural power. The unpaid party to a contract is entitled as of substantive right to interest from the time when payment is contractually due.
Judges:
Lord Justice Brooke, Lord Justice Latham And Mr Justice Holman
Citations:
[2003] EWCA Civ 1159, Times 15-Sep-2003, Gazette 16-Oct-2003, [2003] BLR 347, [2004] 1 All ER (Comm) 97, [2003] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 497
Links:
Statutes:
Arbitration Act 1996, Rules of the International Chamber of Commerce
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Lesotho Highlands Development Authority v Impreglio SpA and Others QBD 15-Nov-2002
The parties had submitted their dispute to arbitration. The arbitrator had made his award payable in certain currencies. The payer contended that this was in excess of his jurisdiction.
Held: The reference to the arbitrator continued the . .
Cited – In re United Railways of Havana and Regla Warehouses Ltd; Tomkinson v First Pennsylvania Banking and Trust Co HL 1960
A sum was held to be due from that company in US dollars under a lease and another agreement which were both governed by the law of Pennsylvania.
Held: The sum provable in the liquidation of the company was to be converted at the rates of . .
Cited – Jugoslavenska Oceanske Plovidba v Castle Investment Co Inc CA 1974
London arbitrators had made an award for unpaid hire in US dollars, being the currency of the hire contract. An issue arose whether an English court could give leave under the Act to enforce the award in the same manner as a judgment to the same . .
Cited – Miliangos v George Frank (Textiles) Ltd HL 1975
The issue was whether an English court was able to award damages in Sterling only.
Held: The House distinguished clearly between the substance of the debtor’s obligations and the effect of English procedural law when a debt in a foreign . .
Cited – Page v Newman 1829
Under common law ‘the long-established rule that interest is not due on money secured by a written instrument, unless it appears on the face of the instrument that interest was intended to be paid, or unless it be implied from the usage of trade, as . .
Cited – London, Chatham and Dover Railway Co v South Eastern Railway Co HL 1893
The Lord Chancellor was considering the position of a creditor whose debtor refused to exchange accounts as agreed, thus preventing the creditor from quantifying the debt.
Held: The House declined to alter the rule in Page -v- Newman.
Cited – Chandris v Isbrandtsen-Moller Co Inc CA 1950
The court considered whether an arbitrator could award interest in circumstances where section 3 of the 1934 Act expressly conferred such a power on ‘the court’ in proceedings tried in a ‘court of record’.
Held: Although section 3(1) of the . .
Cited – Jefford v Gee CA 4-Mar-1970
The courts of Scotland followed the civil law in the award of interest on damages. The court gave examples of the way in which they apply the ex mora rule when calculating the interest payable in a judgment. If money was wrongfully withheld, then . .
Cited – The Trade Fortitude 1986
The purpose of section 19A was to make explicit powers to award interest which had previously rested on implication. . .
Cited – Kuwait Oil Tanker Company SAK and Another v Al Bader and Others CA 18-May-2000
The differences between tortious conspiracies where the underlying acts were either themselves unlawful or not, did not require that the conspiracy claim be merged in the underlying acts where those acts were tortious. A civil conspiracy to injure . .
Cited by:
Appealed to – Lesotho Highlands Development Authority v Impreglio SpA and Others QBD 15-Nov-2002
The parties had submitted their dispute to arbitration. The arbitrator had made his award payable in certain currencies. The payer contended that this was in excess of his jurisdiction.
Held: The reference to the arbitrator continued the . .
Appeal from – Lesotho Highlands Development Authority v Impregilo Spa and others HL 30-Jun-2005
The House had to consider whether the arbitrator had acted in excess of his powers under s38, saying the arbitrator had misconstrued the contract. The arbitrator had made his award in different currencies.
Held: The question remained whether . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Arbitration, Construction
Updated: 07 June 2022; Ref: scu.184926
