Jurisdiction: extension of time for an appeal

The Arbitration Act 1996 adopts the principle of finality of awards, so that the time limits for an appeal to the court against an award – whether on jurisdictional, procedural or substantive grounds – is, under section 70(3) of the Act, 28 days from the notification of the award. The court does have the power to extend time, under section 80(5) of the 1996 Act, but the cases show that even if there are only short delays then an extension will be refused.

In State A v Party B and Another [2019] EWHC 799 (Comm) Sir Michael Burton has redefined the judicial criteria for the extension of time, holding the merits are a relevant factor, so that if the application is based upon new evidence not available in the arbitration itself then there is a relationship between the length of the delay and the importance of the new evidence. In the present case, a delay of in excess of two years required “game-changing” new evidence.