Route 66: enforcing arbitral awards

In brief

• Section 66 of the Arbitration Act 1996: enforcing arbitral awards.
• West Tankers Inc v Allianz SpA (The Front Comor): enforcing the rights which the award has established.
• A v B: a helpful reminder of the approach the courts will adopt when considering an application to enforce under s 66.

Section 66 of the Arbitration Act 1996 (the 1996 Act) provides that an arbitral award may, with the permission of the court, be enforced in the same manner as a judgment or order of the court. However, for the award to be validly enforced, it must, as confirmed in West Tankers Inc v Allianz SpA (The Front Comor) [2012] EWCA Civ 27, [2012] All ER (D) 127 (Jan), seek to enforce rights which the award has established (ie, be a declaratory award). Recently, the High Court in A v B [2020] EWHC 952 (Comm) set aside an earlier order