The criteria that arbitrators are entitled to take into account in reaching a decision have been under Appeal Court scrutiny.
Clarke and Jonathan Parker LJJ have dismissed an appeal by Warborough Investments Ltd against an arbitrator’s decision in favour of S Robinson & Son (Holdings) Ltd in respect of a rent review for premises in Derby.
Warborough claimed that the arbitrator had reached his decision on the basis of a valuation approach that had not been advocated by either party and had failed to give prior warning of his intention to adopt such an approach.
The company argued that if it had been alerted to this, it could have had an opportunity to argue against it and potentially achieve a better result.
However, dismissing the appeal, Jonathan Parker LJ said that he was satisfied that the matters in question had been “put into the arena”.
He added that even if Warborough’s legal team had been given an opportunity to make further submissions, he did not consider that the result would have been so different that the court should take the view that it had suffered a substantial injustice.
Warborough Investments Ltd v S Robinson & Sons (Holdings) Ltd Court of Appeal (Clarke and Jonathan Parker LJJ) 10 June 2003.
Nicholas Dowding QC (instructed by Beachcroft Wansbroughs) appeared for the appellant; Rosemary Jackson (instructed by Flint Bishop & Barnett, of Derby) appeared for the respondent.
References: PLS News 11/6/03
