Arbitration Law Monthly
Stay of proceedings: meaning of matter “to be referred to arbitration”
The decision of Popplewell J in Sodzawiczny v Ruhan [2018] EWHC 1908 (Comm) provides a comprehensive discussion of the phrase “matter … to be referred to arbitration” used in section 9 of the Arbitration Act 1996 as the touchstone for the grant of a stay of judicial proceedings.
The court has in this case departed from earlier authorities on this question and held that a defence based on a contract
containing an arbitration clause was itself a matter to be referred to arbitration even though the claim itself was not arbitrable.
The decision also contains important analysis of the operation of section 8 of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act
1999.