Court shuts door on challenge to arbitral tribunal's findings

Applicants cannot use s.68 of the Arbitration Act to challenge indirectly the tribunal's finding of fact when they don’t like the decision made.

In the case of Sonatrach v Statoil, the claimant, the Algerian state oil company, applied under section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 to set aside an ICC award dated 30 April 2013 made in favour of the defendant, a subsidiary of the Norwegian state oil company.  Sonatrach also sought to challenge an earlier order of the court awarding Statoil post-award interest under the Judgments Act 1838 on the basis that the court did not have the power to do so when the tribunal had not provided for interest in its award.

The court dismissed both applications, confirming that section 68 is designed to be used as a long stop in extreme cases where tribunal's conduct is so at fault that justice cannot be done if it not corrected.  To read the full article on this case, please click here.