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Areas of practice
Arbitration
Research, drafting and assistance in arbitration-related proceedings under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, and in the court proceedings that surround them.
The work
- Research and drafting in support of challenges to arbitral awards under Section 34
- Appeals under Section 37
- Applications for interim measures under Section 9
- Applications for the appointment of an arbitrator under Section 11
- Tender-related and construction arbitration matters
- Statements of claim and defence, and the documentation that supports them
- Review of arbitration clauses in commercial contracts before a dispute arises
Where the deadlines fall
Arbitration is unusually unforgiving about time, and most of the questions I am asked at short notice are about a period that has already begun to run.
| Stage | Indicative position under the 1996 Act |
|---|---|
| Challenge to an award (Section 34) | An application must be made within three months of receipt of the award. The court may entertain it within a further thirty days on sufficient cause being shown, but not thereafter. |
| Completion of the award (Section 29A) | The award is to be made within twelve months of the completion of pleadings, extendable by six months by consent of the parties, and beyond that only by the court. |
| Interim measures (Section 9) | Available before or during the arbitration, and after the award but before it is enforced. |
| Appeal (Section 37) | Lies only against the orders specified in the section; the scope of interference is narrow. |
The table is a summary for orientation only. The applicable period in any given matter depends on the facts, on when the award or order was received, and on the law as it stands at the relevant time.
Arbitration clauses are worth reading before the dispute
A large proportion of arbitration-related litigation is caused by the clause itself: a seat that was never specified, an appointment mechanism that cannot work, a clause that sits inside an unstamped instrument, or a reference so widely drafted that its scope is contested. Reviewing the clause at the drafting stage costs a fraction of what it costs to argue about it later, and it is part of the contract work I do.
Please note
This page describes areas of work and gives a general orientation to the statutory scheme. It is not legal advice, it creates no advocate–client relationship, and no time limit stated here should be relied upon in a live matter without advice on the specific facts.