In Hashwani & Ors v OMV Maurice Energy Ltd [2015] EWCA Civ 1171, the English Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal and allowed a cross-appeal regarding a Commercial Court order made in June 2015 in relation to an application under section 72 of the Arbitration Act 1996. The application under section 72 was for a declaration that the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) did not have jurisdiction to hear disputes between the appellants and the respondent. The Commercial Court had found that there were two disputes, one of which was subject to arbitration under the ICC Rules and the other in relation to which it stayed proceedings on the basis that the ICC tribunal should decide the issue of jurisdiction. The Court of Appeal decided that, in fact, both disputes were subject to arbitration under the ICC Rules and that the Commercial Court had been wrong to stay proceedings. We will report further shortly.

In an unreported decision, Larus Australia v Agrocrop International PTE Ltd (2015), the English Commercial Court rejected a challenge to an arbitration award under section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996. The court found that the tribunal had not committed a serious irregularity when it considered, but ultimately decided not to, invite a charterer to apply under section 41 for an award dismissing the claim on the basis that the vessel owner's delay in bringing a claim had caused it to suffer prejudice.