Arbitration

The power to set aside an award in whole or in part is to be used sparingly. It is not available simply because the tribunal has made a mistake, whether of fact or law; or because the arbitrators did not deal with all the points made or arguments advanced or did not set out each step by which they reached their conclusion.

Nor are arbitrators required to forsake brevity in order to avoid a charge of failure of duty, even if the parties made many different points in relation to each claim.

The court will, however, exercise its power if the tribunal has behaved unfairly in a way that has caused substantial injustice. It is likely to be a serious irregularity under s 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 for the tribunal to fail to deal with all essential issues. But it may do so concisely. A failure to deal with an issue is not the same as a failure to set out the reasoning for rejecting a particular argument. Such a failure is remediable under s 70(4).