Vosnoc Ltd v Transglobal Projects Ltd
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Judge Raymond Jack |
| Judgment Date | 23 July 1997 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Commercial Court) |
| Date | 23 July 1997 |
Queen's Bench Division
Before Judge Raymond Jack, QC
Arbitration - notice insufficient to initiate arbitration
A notice which did no more than state that a dispute was referred to arbitration in accordance with an agreement was insufficient to commence the arbitration under section 34(3)(a) of the Limitation Act 1980, now superseded by section 14 of the Arbitration Act 1996. Such a notice did not carry with it by implication a request that the recipient appoint his arbitrator.
Judge Raymond Jack, QC, sitting as a judge of the Commercial Court in the Queen's Bench Division, so held in a reserved judgment, dismissing Vosnoc Ltd's claim for a declaration that certain disputes between themselves and the defendants, Transglobal Projects Ltd, were validly referred to arbitration on September 19, 1995, but granting the plaintiffs an extension of time for the commencement of arbitration proceedings.
Section 34 of the 1980 Act provides: "(3)…an arbitration shall be treated as being commenced - (a) when one party to the arbitration serves on the other a notice requiring him…to appoint an arbitrator or to agree to the appointment of an arbitrator; or (b) where the arbitration agreement provides that the reference shall be to a person named or designated in the agreement, when one party to the arbitration serves on the other party…a notice requiring him…to submit the dispute to the person so named or designated."
Mr Richard Southern for the plaintiffs; Mr Simon Picken for the defendants.
HIS LORDSHIP said that the plaintiffs entered into a contract with the defendants for the shipment of pipes. Clause 17.8 provided that disputes were to be referred to three arbitrators, to be appointed by each of the parties and the third by the two chosen.
It was accepted for the purpose of the present applications that clause 17.9 incorporated the 1922 Hague Rules, so that, by article III, rule 6, unless suit was brought within one year of delivery the defendants were discharged from all liability in respect of the pipes.
The pipes were discharged on various dates between September 19 and November 8, 1994. Damage was noted on inspection which provided the basis of the intended claims.
On September 19, 1995 the plaintiffs sent a letter to the defendants which, inter alia, stated: "By this letter the dispute between our respective companies is referred to the arbitration of three...
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