When a child is born via a surrogacy arrangement, the legal parents are the surrogate mother and, if they have consented to the arrangement, her spouse or civil partner. The intended parents must apply for a parental order or adoption in order to become the...
The Arbitration Act 1996 will get a makeover under the Labour government, following to the King’s Speech on 17 July.
Arbitration is one of the main alternative dispute resolution methods encouraged by the Courts. Arbitrations are private and held in front of an impartial third-party, known as an arbitrator, who will make a final, legally binding decision.
Many people opt for arbitration over the traditional court process as it often tends to be quicker and cheaper.
In 2022, the Law Commission reviewed the Arbitration Act 1996 (“the Act”) and proposed a number of reforms to modernise it.
Many of the proposed reforms were included in an Arbitration Bill (“the Bill”). The Bill began to make its way through the previous parliamentary session. However, it was not able to be passed into law before parliament dissolved for the recent general election.
The main proposed changes include a duty on arbitrators to disclose circumstances that may affect their impartiality, strengthening arbitrator’s immunity and allowing arbitrators to make awards on a summary basis where claims have no real prospects of success.
The fact that the Bill will be revived by the new government is a welcome development for many in the legal industry, as the Bill was widely supported by arbitrators when it was first introduced.
The hope is that these proposed updates will modernise the Act and bring it in line with the more recently updated legislation in other arbitration hotspots such as Singapore and Hong Kong.
If you are considering arbitration for a dispute, and want some advice or assistance, please contact us on 0121 355 0011 to speak to a member of our commercial litigation team.
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