Oral hearings

The procedure to be adopted in an arbitration is for the arbitrators to decide, subject to any contrary decision by the parties. Subject to their overriding duty to act fairly and impartially, arbitrators have a wide discretion as to the form the arbitration is to take. In O’Donoghue v Enterprise Inns plc [2008] EWHC B15 (Ch) the primary challenge to the award was that the arbitrator had failed to hold an oral hearing despite being requested to do so.

O’Donoghue: the facts

The claimant was the assignee of a lease on a public house, the Maypole Inn, originally entered into for a period of 30 years from April 2000. The initial rent was £34,000 and was to be reviewed upwards only every five years, with the first review on 22 December 2004. In the absence of agreement by the review date, any dispute was to be referred to arbitration before an independent surveyor.