Arbitration: Availability of Injunctive Relief Before the Court

In a judgment handed down in December 2009, but with a delayed publication, the Court of Appeal in SAB Miller -v- Tanzania Breweries Ltd and another ([2010] EWCA Civ 1564) considered whether the parties had, by agreement, conferred power on the Court to grant injunctive relief which were wider than that provided by section 44 of the Arbitration Act 1996. The case turned on a narrow point as to whether the applicant retained a right to appeal to the Court of Appeal. The Court rejected the application, holding that the injunction had, on the facts, been granted under section 44 and, as such was subject to its limitations including those relating to rights of appeal. However in his judgment Laws LJ went further and observed that very clear provision would be needed for parties to avoid the limitations set out in section 44.