Law digests: 17 November 2023

Arbitration

Betta Oceanway Company v SC Tomini Trading SRL [2023] EWHC 2707 (Comm), [2023] All ER (D) 32 (Nov)

The Commercial Court dismissed the claimant’s application to set aside the order under s 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 on grounds of serious irregularity falling within s 68.2(a) and/or (b), namely failure by the tribunal to comply with its general duty of fairness under s 33 of the Act and exceeding its powers. It was accepted that unless the court was persuaded that procedural order 6 was indeed an award, the application was bound to fail. It was submitted that procedural order 6 in substance amounted to an impermissible attempt to vary procedural order 5, which was itself an award, accordingly, procedural order 6 was therefore itself an award by extension. The court held that procedural order 5 was not an award. On that basis it could not realistically be argued that procedural order 6 was an award or in effect an addendum to that award.

Freedom of expression

Adil v General Medical