Key Points:
There is no automatic bar to maintaining proceedings
merely because there is an arbitration on foot between some related
parties.
The High Court of Australia has delivered a judgment which
clarifies general principles of international arbitration law,
abuse of process and inconsistent determinations. The judgment,
delivered in favour of Clayton Utz client Michael Wilson &
Partners Limited (MWP), represents a maturing of international
arbitration law in Australia and coincides with a significant
movement in Australia to promote international arbitration.
The trial, which was heard in 2009, related to the alleged
diversion of profits and business opportunities by three
Australians employed by MWP to work on energy and resources
projects in Kazakhstan. The trial judge awarded MWP more than $8
million against two of the Australians, partly on the basis that
they were accessories to breaches of fiduciary duties by the third
man whom the judge found to be
