Counsel missing a point

Bandwidth Shipping Corporation v Intaari CA TLR 31 October

When an arbitrator appreciated that a party had missed a point then fairness required him to raise it, so that the party could deal with it. But where there was no such appreciation, it was not unfair to leave it to counsel, particularly highly experienced counsel who showed a detailed knowledge of the case, to take such points as he wished. Accordingly, the court refused an application to remit an award to the arbitrators on the grounds of unfairness. An application under s68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 to set aside an award for its remission faced a high hurdle. It would be a retrograde step to allow appeals on fact or law from the decision of arbitrators to come in by the side door of an application under s33 and s68 of the Act.