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19 March 2020 / Shantanu Majumdar KC
Issue: 7879 / Categories: Features , Profession , ADR , Arbitration
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Arbitration vs litigation...never the twain shall meet?

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Shantanu Majumdar QC considers some aspects of the supposed division between arbitration & litigation
  • The court’s involvement in the arbitral process and the effect of arbitration on the courts.

Arbitration is a private dispute resolution process which effectively involves the parties to the arbitration agreement contracting out of the rights which they would otherwise have to submit their disputes for resolution by a national court.

In that sense, the parties to an arbitration agreement make a choice which excludes the court. ‘Arbitration-friendly’ jurisdictions recognise and respect the parties’ right to make that choice. Yet, even as, say, the English court therefore stays proceedings brought in respect of a matter which is subject to an arbitration agreement (under s 9 of the Arbitration Act 1996 (AA 1996)) or grants an injunction restraining a party’s pursuit of such proceedings in a foreign court, it demonstrates how integral the court can be (and the arbitration law which it applies is) to the successful fulfilment

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