Challenges to arbitral awards on questions of law rarely succeed in the English courts.1 The recent case of CVLC3 & CVLC4 v AMPTC is, therefore, unusual. Importantly, in this case, the Court clarified the position in relation to the two-step appeal process under section 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 (the “Act”). The Court’s decision narrowed the scope for parties to argue points in the substantive appeal that were dismissed at the permission to appeal stage under section 69, emphasising the importance of the streamlined two-step process and noting that “highly unusual circumstances” would be required to revisit such issues once permission to appeal had been granted.
Notably, the Court not only granted the appeal under section 69 of the Act, finding that the arbitrator’s decision was incorrect, but it also refused to remit the matter back to the arbitrator to reconsider the issue on the facts.
To read the full Arbitration Update: Streamlined Appeals on Questions of Law click here.
