As those involved in adjudication will be aware, the grounds for
challenging an Adjudicator's Decision are limited. The two
narrow challenges are: (i) jurisdictional matters, or (ii)
breaches of the rules of natural justice.
The recent case of J J Rhatigan & Co (UK) Ltd
(JJR) v Rosemary Lodge Developments Ltd (RDL) in England considers
whether the adjudicator's alleged failure to consider
"material" evidence was enough to render the Decision
unenforceable. The challenge was framed as a breach of natural
justice, with the allegation being that the Adjudicator
"failed to deal with a potentially determinative
matter".
Dispute
The dispute referred to adjudication related to whether or not
there was a binding oral agreement on the value of the final
account, encompassing all claims and counterclaims. RDL provided
witness statements, with both the Reply and the
Surrejoinder (the second and third rounds of submissions for
the Responding Party in
