25/01/2018

Michael Ashcroft QC and Belinda McRae successfully apply under rarely-used section 42 of the Arbitration Act 1996

Michael Ashcroft QC and Belinda McRae appeared for the successful claimant in obtaining a rare order under section 42 of the Arbitration Act 1996 to enforce a peremptory order of a tribunal. The application arose in the context of two ongoing London-seated arbitrations concerning the breach and termination of agreements for the acquisition of newbuilding vessels. The tribunals had given the claimant permission to make the section 42 application, along with uncontested applications under section 43 and 44 of the Arbitration Act 1996, in circumstances where the defendant’s compliance with the tribunals’ disclosure orders was critical to resolving the dispute between the parties and all available arbitral processes had been entirely exhausted. The judgment of Mrs Justice Carr dated 20 December 2017 has recently been published and available on Bailii here. It is one of the very few reported cases on section 42.