EGIAZARYAN AND ANOTHER V OJSC OEK FINANCE AND ANOTHER

[2015] EWHC 3532 (Comm), Queen's Bench Division, Commercial Court, Mr Justice Burton, 4 December 2015

Arbitration - Jurisdiction - Scope of arbitration clause - Whether third party could be joined to the arbitration - Law applicable to joinder question - Remission of award to arbitrators - Arbitration Act 1996, section 67

C2 was the owner of a BVI company, Konk, a joint venture between C2 and R1 to redevelop the Moskva Hotel adjacent to Red Square in Moscow. There were two agreements, a Shareholders Agreement and a Share Purchase Agreement. Each was governed by English law and the parties agreed that "any dispute ... arising out of, relating to or in connection with this Agreement, including any question regarding its existence, validity or termination, or regarding a breach of this Agreement" was to be referred to arbitration in London under LCIA Rules. C2 claimed that R1 was liable in tort under the Russian Civil Code, and sought to join R1's parent company, R2, to the arbitration on basis that it was responsible for R1's tort. The tribunal ruled that the arbitration clause did not extend to tort claims, and that in any event the question whether R2 was a party to the arbitration clauses was to be determined by English law as the law applicable to the arbitration clauses: under English law, R2 was not a party. C2 appealed against the award under section 67 of the Arbitration Act 1996.