No Evidence Of Authentic And Binding Contract, Then No Valid Arbitration Agreement

In the recent case of Ganz v Petronz FZE and another [2024] EWHC 635 (Comm), the High Court upheld a tribunal's decision to decline jurisdiction over a dispute, as the party challenging the award failed to prove the existence of an authentic and binding agreement to arbitrate.

The claimant argued that the respondent had agreed to buy shares in a company under a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA). The SPA provided for arbitration under the LCIA Rules. However, the arbitrator determined – in the context where a party to the SPA alleged its signature had been forged – that it had no jurisdiction on the available evidence to hear the substantive dispute. The claimant's challenges under Section 67 (challenge to substantive jurisdiction) and Section 68 (serious irregularity causing substantial injustice) of the English Arbitration Act 1996 (the Act) both failed.