International Arbitration Act · 2024 Revised Edition · Part · International Commercial Arbitration
6. Enforcement of international arbitration agreement
Official textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
Notwithstanding Article 8 of the Model Law, where any party to an arbitration agreement to which this Act applies institutes any proceedings in any court against any other party to the agreement in respect of any matter which is the subject of the agreement, any party to the agreement may, at any time after entering an appearance and before delivering any pleading or taking any other step in the proceedings, apply to that court to stay the proceedings so far as they relate to that matter.
Model Law
“Model Law” means the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on 21st June 1985, the text in English of which is set out in Schedule 1;
The court to which an application has been made in accordance with subsection (1) shall make an order, upon such conditions as it may think fit, staying the proceedings so far as they relate to that matter, unless it is satisfied that the arbitration agreement is void, inoperative or incapable of being performed.
Where a court makes an order under subsection (2), the court may, for the purpose of preserving the rights of parties, make such interim or supplementary orders as it may think fit in relation to any property which is the subject of the dispute to which the order under that subsection relates.
Where no party to the proceedings has taken any further step in the proceedings for a period of not less than 2 years after an order staying the proceedings has been made, the court may, on its own motion, make an order discontinuing the proceedings without prejudice to the right of any of the parties to apply for the discontinued proceedings to be reinstated.
party
“party” means a party to an arbitration agreement or, in any case where an arbitration does not involve all of the parties to the arbitration agreement, means a party to the arbitration.
For the purposes of this section and sections 7 and 14 —
a reference to a party shall include a reference to any person claiming through or under such party;
“court” means the High Court, an Intermediate Court, a Court of a Magistrate or any other court in which the proceedings are instituted.
International Arbitration
Terms defined in this Act
arbitration agreement
Defined · s 2“arbitration agreement” means a written agreement referred to in Article 7 of the Model Law and includes an agreement deemed or constituted under subsection (3) or (4);
enforcement
Defined · s 40“enforcement”, in relation to a foreign award, includes the recognition of the award as binding for any purpose.
Model Law
Defined · s 2“Model Law” means the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on 21st June 1985, the text in English of which is set out in Schedule 1;
party
Defined · s 2“party” means a party to an arbitration agreement or, in any case where an arbitration does not involve all of the parties to the arbitration agreement, means a party to the arbitration.