Arbitration - Sowden V Smyth-Tyrrell (High Court)

Section 70(2) of the Arbitration Act 1996 provides that an award cannot be challenged or appealed if the applicant/appellant has not "first exhausted... any available recourse under section 57". Section 57 in turn provides that a party can apply to the arbitrator to correct an award, remove any ambiguity in the award or make an additional award in respect of a claim not dealt with by the arbitrator.

In this case, the applicant applied under section 57 to ask the arbitrator to correct his award and/or make an additional award. The arbitrator eventually admitted an irregularity but declined to act further without the agreement of the parties or a court order.