UK Arbitration Act 2025 – Key Changes For Commercial Parties

On 24 February, the UK Arbitration Act 2025 received Royal Assent. The new Act introduces a series of enhancements to the Arbitration Act 1996 following a review by the Law Commission. These changes aim to ensure the UK's arbitration laws remain fit for purpose and, as the UK Government's press release puts it, to "turbocharge [the] UK's position as the world leader in arbitration". The amendments made by the 2025 Act are not yet in force, but the Government has stated that it aims to introduce the necessary regulations "as soon as practicable".

Here we discuss four key reforms to the Arbitration Act 1996 that will be relevant to commercial parties:

Summary disposal

In a change that will be widely welcomed, the Arbitration Act 1996 will now provide expressly that an arbitral tribunal can determine an issue before it on a summary basis. Although the consensus among practitioners has been that arbitral tribunals seated in England and Wales already have an