Nature of Arbitration The essence of arbitration is that a third party private person adjudicates on the dispute. If differs from other types of arrangements such as mediation, expert determination, etc. In some cases, disputes must be referred to expert determination before arbitration may proceed. Arbitration may deal only with certain types of private civil rights. It can only bind the parties to the agreement […]
Commencement of Arbitration Arbitration must be commenced within the time limits for commencement of litigation. Generally, a breach of contract claim must be commenced within six years of the date of the breach. See the chapter on the Statute of Limitations. Sometimes, shorter time limits are provided by the contract concerned. These time limits will generally be upheld by the courts in commercial contracts, but […]
Pre-Hearing It is possible to make applications to the arbitrator, in the pre-hearing phase of an arbitration. This is analogous to pre-trial applications in court proceedings. The purpose is usually to assist in the preparation and correct formulation of the case. The arbitrator may make interim awards dealing with preliminary and preparatory matters. He may also make an interim award of damages or order restraining […]
Arbitration Agreements At common law, an agreement to submit a dispute to arbitration might be written or oral. Prior to arbitration legislation, arbitration agreements were referred to as submissions. At common law, the submission could be oral. A submission required an existing dispute and nomination of the arbitrator. The authority of the arbitrator might be revoked but this may give rise to a right to […]
“Commercial” Disputes Commercial disputes cover a range of legal areas where the dispute is between businesses. The common feature is that the parties to the dispute are not consumers and act in the course of a trade, business or profession. The UNCITRAL Model Law on arbitration provides that the term “commercial” should be given a wide interpretation, to cover matters arising from all natures of […]
Features In broad terms, international arbitration refers to arbitration involving parties, who are in different States, arbitration held or relating to matters outside the jurisdiction of one or both parties and arbitrations agreed to have an international element. International arbitration is commonly encountered in construction, engineering, energy, transport and shipping. It is also commonly found in disputes involving insurance, banking and financial services. An attraction […]
Arbitration Applications to Court Where an arbitration has been commenced, any application by a party to arbitration concerning or affecting the arbitration is to be entitled In the matter of the arbitration to which it relates and the matter of the Arbitration Act, 2010. Any originating notice of motion in respect of such application shall name as the respondent the other parties to the reference. […]