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 to arbitration ‘any dispute arising under this charter’. The issue of bribery could be dealt with within that arbitration.
Lord Hoffmann said: ‘It depends upon the intention of the parties as expressed in their agreement. Only the agreement can tell you what kinds of disputes they intended to submit to arbitration. But the meaning which the parties intended to express by the words which they used will be affected by the commercial background and the readers’ understanding of the purpose for which the agreement was made. Businessmen in particular are assumed to have entered into agreements to achieve some rational commercial purpose and an understanding of this purpose will influence the way in which one interprets their language’.
and ‘the construction of an arbitration clause should start from the assumption that the parties, as rational businessmen, are likely to have intended any dispute arising out of the relationship into which they have entered or purported to enter to be decided by the same tribunal. The clause should be construed in accordance with this presumption unless the language makes it clear that certain questions were intended to be excluded from the arbitrator’s jurisdiction.’
Lord Hoffmann, Lord Hope of Craighead, Lord Scott of Foscote, Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe, Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood
[2007] ArbLR 24, [2007] UKHL 40, [2008] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 254, [2007] 4 All ER 951, [2007] Bus LR 1719, [2007] 114 Con LR 69, [2007] 2 CLC 553, [2007] 2 All ER (Comm) 1053, [2007] CILL 2528
Bailii
Arbitration Act 1996 7 9
England and Wales
Citing:
At first instance – Fiona Trust and Holding Corp and others v Privalov and others ComC 20-Oct-2006
The parties disputed whether their claim should be arbitrated.
Held: A claim as to whether the contract itself had been made was not one which could be arbitrated by provisions in that contract. It does not arise ‘under’ the contract. The . .
See Also – Fiona Trust Holding Corp and others v Privalov and others ComC 21-May-2007
Allegations were made of different varieties of fraud. Applications were made for freezing orders. . .
Appeal from – 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.
Cited – Overseas Union v AA Mutual International Insurance Co Ltd 1988
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 . .
Cited – Harbour Assurance Co (UK) Ltd v Kansa General International Insurance Co Ltd CA 7-Apr-1993
An action was brought by re-insurers for a declaration that reinsurance policies were void for illegality, and that the plaintiffs were not liable under them. The illegality alleged was that the defendants were not registered or approved to carry on . .
Cited – Fillite (Runcorn) Ltd v Aqua-Lift CA 1989
The court considered whether claims arising from misrepresentation or breach of a collateral contrat were claims arising ‘under’ the contract so as to be governed by the disputes provisions in it.
Held: The disputes did not arise ‘under the . .
Cited – Union of India v Aaby’s Rederi A/S, The Evje HL 1975
Lord Dilhorne said of the words ‘to be settled in London’: ‘At first sight those words appear to me to mean no more and no less than that the contributions to be made have to be determined in London and paid there, and that implies determined in . .
Cited – Heyman v Darwins Limited HL 1942
An arbitration clause will survive a repudiatory breach: ‘I agree with the Lord Chancellor in thinking that the true ground of the decision in Jureidini v National British and Irish Millers Insurance Co Ltd was the narrowness of the field of . .
Cited – Mackender v Feldia AG CA 1966
A clause provided that an insurance policy should be governed by Belgian law and that ‘any disputes arising thereunder shall be exclusively subject to Belgian jurisdiction.’ The underwriters avoided the contract for non-disclosure of material facts . .
Cited – Ashville Investments Ltd v Elmer Contractors Ltd CA 1987
A clause in the contract refered to arbitration: ‘any dispute or difference as to the construction of this contract or as to any matter or thing of whatsoever nature arising thereunder or in connection therewith.’
Held: The court should adopt . .
See Also – Fiona Trust Holding Corporation and others v Privalov and others ComC 19-Jan-2007
. .
Cited by:
See Also – Fiona Trust and Holding Corporation and others v Privalov and others ComC 22-Jul-2008
. .
Cited – Trident Turboprop (Dublin) Ltd v First Flight Couriers Ltd CA 2-Apr-2009
The appellant entered into two aircraft leasing agreements but were unable to maintain payments. They appealed against rejection of their argument that the agreements were not exempt from the controls under the 1977 Act by being international supply . .
Cited – S Ltd v C Ltd ComC 27-Feb-2009
Defamation allegation not subject to arbitration
The parties had an agreement referring disputes between them to arbitration. One party raised an allegation of defamation, but the arbitrator refused jurisdiction. The parties had chosen the London Metal Exchange for its expertise in metals trading, . .
Cited – Aspect Contracts (Asbetos) Ltd v Higgins Construction Plc SC 17-Jun-2015
Aspect had claimed the return of funds paid by it to the appellant Higgins under an adjudication award in a construction contract disute. The claimant had been asked to prpare asbestos surveys and reports on maisonettes which Higgins was to acquire . .
Cited – Emmott v Michael Wilson and Partners Ltd ComC 12-Jan-2009
The claimant, a party to an arbitration, sought first an order requiring the defendant to comply with an order made by the arbitrator for the transfer of certain shares, and second an asset freezing order.
Held: The conditions for a peremptory . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Arbitration, Contract
Leading Case
Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.259907