The application of Section 69 of the English Arbitration Act 1996 in the shipping industry

In its recent consultation paper, the English Law Commission made provisional law reform proposals to ensure that the English Arbitration Act 1996 remains state of art. Contrary to the proposition that where appeals have been allowed on questions of law, in many cases an abuse had taken place as often questions of fact were hidden under the guise of questions of law, the Law Commission did not recommend a reform of s.69 of the Arbitration Act 1996. In light of the above, this article is looking at the manner in which the judiciary scrutinises the questions brought before it and the various findings, especially in shipping law cases whereby an increased resort to the appeal mechanism of s.69 is noticed. Also, the rules of maritime and non-maritime arbitration institutions, offering an appeals or “quasi” appeals mechanism, are examined, to allow more conclusive evidence so as to then reach more holistic overall conclusions.