Call for Evidence

The House of Lords has established a Special Public Bill Committee on the Arbitration Bill.  The long title of the Bill describes it as a “Bill to Amend the Arbitration Act 1996”. The Government’s Explanatory Notes to the Bill explain that “the Bill is concerned with arbitration, which is typically when disputes are resolved by an arbitrator who is privately appointed rather than by a judge sitting in court. Arbitration in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is regulated by the Arbitration Act 1996. The Bill gives effect to the recommendations of the Law Commission of England and Wales to amend the Arbitration Act 1996.”[1]

Special Public Bill Committees are empowered to take written and oral evidence on a bill before considering it.  The Committee would welcome views on the provisions contained within the Bill, and other relevant matters (there is no requirement to answer all the questions.)

In particular, the Committee would welcome views on:

• Whether you agree with the proposed reforms and whether the reforms achieve what they are intended to;
• Provisions in the Government’s bill that differ from the version proposed by the Law Commission concerning:

• Changing the bill so that it now provides the changes to the law apply to all arbitration agreements whenever made except those where arbitrations have already commenced
• Extending the extent of the bill to Northern Ireland

• What impact the reforms are likely to have on the arbitration market in the United Kingdom/the City of London
• Is clause 1(2) of the Bill (adding new Section 6A to the Arbitration Act 1996) sufficiently clear in its drafting (see Hansard 19 December 2023 Grand Committee Col 429GC-430GC and 433GC to 434GC)[2]?
• Whether the amendment to section 67 of the Arbitration Act 1996 relating to challenges to substantive jurisdiction) set out a sufficiently clear approach?

The call for evidence deadline is Tuesday 6 February.

 You can follow the progress of the inquiry at: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/695/arbitration-bill-hl-special-public-bill-committee/

[1] Ministry of Justice, Arbitration Bill [HL] Explanatory Notes, (21 November 2023) https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/53039/documents/4029

[2] House of Lords Official Report, 23 December 2023 https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2023-12-19/debates/5C3EB6BF-4756-4B12-BE2E-4828A35B05EB/ArbitrationBill(HL)