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ARTICLE · 31 JANUARY 2020

Legal Developments In Construction Law: January 2020

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In dealing with challenges to an application to enforce an adjudicator's order for payment, a Scottish court provided two particular reminders...

United StatesReal Estate and Construction
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1. Scottish court provides new year reminders on adjudicator's reasons and natural justice

In dealing with challenges to an application to enforce an adjudicator's order for payment, a Scottish court provided two particular reminders of the approach to be taken to the adequacy, and fairness, of adjudicator's decisions. The case in question involved an issue as to whether the adjudicator in question had provided adequate reasons for their decision. The court ruled that, where an adjudicator is required to give reasons, they can be brief, and need not deal with every point. Adjudicators' reasons are not to be judged by the standards applied to judges or arbitrators. A reasonable person informed as to the context of the dispute who reads the decision ought to be able to discern from it what the adjudicator has decided, and why they have decided it. The issue in question in the case was an instance of an issue where the acceptance by an adjudicator of one party's

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This Mayer Brown article provides information and comments on legal issues and developments of interest. The foregoing is not a comprehensive treatment of the subject matter covered and is not intended to provide legal advice. Readers should seek specific legal advice before taking any action with respect to the matters discussed herein.

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