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Praise the lords!

13 December 2007 / Louis Flannery KC
Issue: 7301 / Categories: Features
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Louis Flannery salutes a “fresh start” in arbitration

In a judgment that will undoubtedly be extremely well received by the international arbitration community, the House of Lords in Fiona Trust Holding Corp and others v Privalov and others [2007] UKHL 40, [2007] All ER (D) 233 (Oct) has given an unqualified endorsement to the idea of arbitrators deciding upon their own jurisdiction, even in cases where one party to the contract alleges it was procured by fraud and bribery. The law lords unanimously dismissed an appeal from the Court of Appeal’s judgment in January (see NLJ, 13 April 2007, pp 508–09).

BACKGROUND

The contracts here were time charterparties. It was alleged by the shipowner-claimants that the charters had been procured by bribery of the claimants’ former personnel. Proceedings were started in the High Court against the charterers, seeking inter alia declarations that the time charters had been validly rescinded.

Although the charters were subject to the jurisdiction of the English courts, either party had the right to elect to refer any dispute to arbitration

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NEWS
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
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