The respondents to the arbitration admitted breaches of contracts that raised some issue as to the amount of damages payable. The arbitrators made an award on the basis that the admission of liability was not justified.
Held: It was a clear case, and only necessary for Mr Justice Colman to state the central principle of the old law without discussing the refinements of the 1996 Act. Colman J said: ‘It is particularly important in arbitrations which are conducted on documents alone that arbitrators should be alive to the dangers of introducing into their awards matters which have never been, or have ceased to be, matters in issue between the parties. This case is a particularly glaring example of the arbitrators simply ignoring the definition of issues which had been arrived at prior to the time when they had to determine the issues then referred to them . . In a paper arbitration the temptation to arrive at a conclusion which may not have been envisaged by either party by reference to matters upon which the parties have not had the opportunity of addressing the arbitrators or in respect of which they have not had the opportunity of adducing further evidence, may be a particular temptation which arbitrators should be careful to avoid.’
Judges:
Colman J
Citations:
[2000] 1 Lloyds Rep 109
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – ED and F Man Sugar Ltd v Belmont Shipping Ltd ComC 18-Nov-2011
Allegation of serious irregularity in arbitration.
Held: The request was refused: ‘the present case can hardly be said to be an extreme case which justice calls out to be corrected.’.
‘Arbitrators are not barred from asking a party . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Arbitration
Updated: 03 September 2022; Ref: scu.470572