Court 'Renders' Summary Judgment On Arbitration Appeal

In a recent application under the Arbitration Act 1996 (the Act), the Commercial Court considered time limits for appealing an arbitration award. The outcome highlights the policy objective of arbitral finality in England & Wales, and the importance of exercising any right of appeal promptly.

This article reviews the outcome and what parties looking to make an appeal should do in response.

Arbitration appeals in England & Wales

Under s.69 of the Act, a party to arbitral proceedings seated in England and Wales may appeal to the court on a question of law arising out of an award made in that arbitration. This right of appeal is relatively rare among national arbitration laws, many of which exclude the possibility of appeal in favour of promoting the final and binding nature of arbitration as a consensual process. In its recent report on the Act though, the UK Law Commission concluded that "s.69 is a defensible compromise between promoting the finality of arbitral