Arbitration Act 1996, Merkin and Flannery on the
PART II.I
ARBITRATION PURSUANT TO AN ARBITRATION AGREEMENT : The arbitration agreement
The arbitration agreement
Definition of arbitration agreement
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6. –
- (1) In this Part an ‘arbitration agreement’ means an agreement to submit to arbitration present or future disputes (whether they are contractual or not).
- (2) The reference in an agreement to a written form of arbitration clause or to a document containing an arbitration clause constitutes an arbitration agreement if the reference is such as to make that clause part of the agreement.
Notes
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§6.1 Section 6(1): definition of arbitration agreement
§6.1.1 Defining arbitration
Although the Act attempts to define ‘arbitration agreement’,1 it does not define ‘arbitration’.2 The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘arbitration’ as ‘the settlement of a question at issue, by one to whom the conflicting parties agree to refer their claims in order to obtain an equitable decision.’ We feel that this rather neatly encapsulates almost all of the essential features of the arbitral process. In terms of a more detailed description of arbitration, however, in our view the primary characteristics of arbitration are:3