Arbitration

It was settled law that it was an important attribute of an arbitration agreement that there should be an agreement to refer disputes to a person other than the court which was to resolve the dispute in a manner binding on the parties to the agreement. A clause did not cease to be an arbitration clause simply because it provided that a decision in writing agreed by the two appraisers would be binding on the parties. In almost any dispute resolution process, it was open to parties to resolve their dispute by agreement and terminate the process.