Arbitration: Awards

Form

The award will be in writing and, subject to contrary agreement, will contain the basis for the decision.

The award will clearly detail the arbitrators’ decision and any money, orders and other relief that has been awarded.  The final award must be certain, unconditional, be able to be carried out and be enforceable by the courts.

Types

During the course of the proceedings there are several types of award that can be issued, these include:

  • Jurisdiction Awards, used when the issue of jurisdiction has been raised and decided upon

  • Partial Awards, i.e. relating to parts of the claim or cross-claim

  • Consent Awards, which are used when the parties have between themselves reached a settlement

  • Cost Awards that allocate the costs of the arbitration between the parties

  • Final Awards which relate to all the matters referred to the arbitrator

Amendments and Corrections

Once awards have been made they cannot easily be amended. However, where a final award has been issued which does not deal with all the claims presented to the tribunal, then an additional award can be made to deal with the omitted matter. Otherwise amendments can only be made with the express agreement of the parties.

However, clerical errors and accidental mistakes, omissions and ambiguities can be corrected on the arbitrator(s) own initiative.

 

Enforcement

Once the award had been issued, it is legally binding on the parties. In the event that the party against whom the award is invoked refuses to carry out the award, then the other party can seek enforcement through the national court. However, in such cases the offending party may well be liable for the costs of these additional proceedings, will have a court judgement against them and may be liable for any interest provisions that are included in the award.

Challenges

Although it is very rare for arbitration awards to be successfully challenged, they nonetheless can be on the following grounds:

  • The proceedings were not properly conducted (i.e. the arbitrator(s) were not impartial, the parties did not have reasonable opportunity to present their cases, there were undue delays or expenses, or the procedure was otherwise unsuitable)

  • The arbitrators exceeded powers with regard to jurisdiction

  • Failure to conduct the proceedings in accordance with the agreement

  • Failure to deal with all of the issues

  • The award is uncertain or ambiguous

  • On the basis of fraud

  • For issues of public policy

When the award is challenged, the national court can confirm the award, vary it (to a very limited extent), remit it back to the arbitrator(s) or set it aside.