China International Commercial Dispute Resolution Spotlight

SPC Clarifies the Standard for Fair and Impartial Treatment and Equal Opportunity of Statement

In a voyage charter dispute between Jiarui Shipping Co., Ltd. ("Jiarui") and Sichuan Beifang Qinyuan Biological Engineering Co., Ltd. ("Qinyuan"), shanghai branch of China Maritime Arbitration Commission rendered an award in favor of Jiarui. Later, Jiarui applied to the Wuhan Maritime Court to enforce the award, however, Qinyuan challenged the enforcement, claiming 1) that the tribunal had violated its institutional rules, because the tribunal failed to organize a hearing for a piece of evidence submitted by Jiarui after the hearing so as itcould notcross-examine the evidence, and 2) that the award did not mention or analyse Respondent's Supplementary Statement of Attorney challenging the admissibility of the evidence, which led the Respondent to believe the tribunal deprivedits reasonable right to make statements and arguments.