No Room At The Court - Emergency Arbitrator Provisions

Introduction

In the recent case of Gerald Metals SA v The Trustees of the Timis Trust & others [2016] EWHC 2327, the English Commercial Court has considered the effect of emergency arbitrator provisions on the scope of the court's jurisdiction to grant interim relief under section 44 of the Arbitration Act 1996. The decision has important consequences for parties to arbitration agreements incorporating the rules of any arbitral institution, such as the ICC, SIAC or LCIA, which include emergency arbitrator provisions.

Background

The claimant, Gerald Metals, was a Swiss company engaged in commodities trading. It entered into an 'Offtake Contract' with a company called Timis Mining Corp (SL) Limited ("TMC"), which owned an iron ore mine in Sierra Leone called the Marampa mine. The contract was a form of financing arrangement, whereby Gerald Metals advanced US$50 million to TMC to finance the development of the Marampa mine. TMC agreed to sell the iron ore