COMMENT OF THE DAY #45

ARBITRATION

In post No 45 I focused on the different titles given to arbitrators’ awards and considered an award on a preliminary issue. It is not a preliminary award – the award is final but it is on one aspect of the dispute between the parties and I gave the example of jurisdiction.

Another example could be the contentious issue of disclosure of documents. The parties want an award on one issue – discovery.

They are not content with an Order because orders are not appealable. Only awards can be appealed so the issue of discovery needs to be included in an award to enable the parties – if they wish to take the issue to the courts. The courts will decide + depending on the outcome the parties (or just one party) will or will not instruct you to proceed. The disclosure issue may be the beginning or it may be the end.

More in #47 on 5 April on the meaning of an ‘Interim Award’ and a ‘Partial Award’