An arbitration award does not create a new debt for purposes of prescription. Parties who wait more than one year to have an arbitration award made an order of court with a 30 year prescription period may find that, when they attempt to enforce the award, the underlying debt has prescribed. Parties should deal expressly
In late December 2017, Parliament enacted the long-awaited International Arbitration Act which brings about an overhaul of the international arbitration framework. The Act commenced on 20 December 2017.
The new Arbitration Act regulates international arbitration proceedings in South Africa and governs the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. The Act, which incorporates the Model Law on
The losing party before an arbitration tribunal cannot challenge the decision of the tribunal based on an alleged failure to deal with the evidence properly unless in exceptional cases the tribunal genuinely overlooked evidence that really mattered, or got the wrong end of the stick in misunderstanding really important evidence.
The arbitrator’s role is to
South African Courts can enforce an arbitration award arising out of an arbitration which did not take place in South Africa, is not governed by South African law, does not involve any South African parties and relates to a transaction that is not linked to South Africa. All that is required is that the party
Arbitration clauses must be construed liberally to give effect to their essential purpose which is to resolve legal disputes arising from commercial relationships before privately agreed tribunals, instead of through the courts.
When business people choose to arbitrate their disputes they generally intend that all their disputes will be determined by the same tribunal unless
In an important case both historically and legally, Pakistan sued India for losses resulting from the invasion and annexation of Hyderabad in September 1948.
After the invasion the Pakistani finance minister and other officials arranged for the transfer of approximately GBP1 million (at today’s value about GBP35 million) in the name of the High Commissioner
The Constitutional Court judgment in De Lange v Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa dealt with a number of interesting issues. One was whether good cause existed, as contemplated by the Arbitration Act, to set aside an arbitration agreement concluded between the parties.
Neither the Arbitration Act nor our courts have expressly
There is no reason why foreign companies and individuals should not arbitrate their disputes in South Africa according to South African law. The South African courts will encourage the selection of South Africa as a venue for international arbitrations.
Where a dispute “arising out of” the relationship between the parties is subject to arbitration, the
There are limited grounds under the South African Arbitration Act for setting aside arbitration awards:
Our courts have no other powers to set aside arbitration
The London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) has revised its arbitration rules to make the arbitration process more efficient using requirements that include timetables, guidelines, emergency procedures and consolidation processes. These changes to the LCIA arbitration rules are in effect from 1 October 2014 and track the similar amendments to the UNCITRAL and the ICC