In Stonegate Farmers v Chucks Farm, a dispute over egg supplies and Lion Code registration, the arbitrator found Stonegate had to release the registration when the contract expired, and awarded damages.
Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed, associate professor at the University of Leicester, and Dr Lal Akhter, barrister at Gaskell Law, explain that the term first appeared in the award. Stonegate then received only one clear working day to respond under s 57 of the Arbitration Act 1996. Judge Russen KC found the point had come ‘out of the blue’, breaching the s 33 duty of fairness and causing substantial injustice under s 68. The award was remitted.
Arbitrators may develop their own analysis, but parties must have a meaningful chance to address a new, potentially decisive point.
