Arbitration Service

Designed to assist parties to arrive at a final and binding resolution of their dispute in a simple, expeditious and cost-effective manner, with the assistance of experienced, specialist and neutral arbitrators.

Benefits

Flexibility

Arbitration permits the parties to agree on the rules and procedures they wish to apply in accordance with a timetable which suits them.

Efficiency

Arbitration is efficient. No waiting around at Court in the unassigned list. No waiting on the telephone to speak to a member of the Court staff. SCA provides a speedy service upon which the parties can rely, with a single arbitrator presiding over the whole process.

Cost

Court-centred litigation is expensive. With the recent increase in issue fees, significant costs are incurred long before the parties even enter a Court room. With SCA, things are very different. Court fees no longer arise. SCA’s fees are clear and transparent, so parties know where they are. In suitable cases, such as low-value claims, SCA will operate on a fixed fee basis.

Confidentiality

Unlike Court hearings, the arbitral process is conducted in private and awards are confidential to the parties. Therefore, disputes are not revealed to the public.

Finality

An arbitration award provides a greater degree of finality than a Court judgment. In most cases, there is only very limited scope for an appeal under the Arbitration Act 1996. The parties can even agree to eliminate the possibility of an appeal altogether.

Enforceability

An award from SCA is readily and easily enforceable in the Courts, in a manner similar to a Court judgment.

Our process

Our process is suitable for a wide variety of disputes, covering the entire range of commercial, chancery and commercial chancery litigation.

Our arbitrators have significant experience in many practice areas, including landlord and tenant, real property, commercial and company law, insolvency, construction and engineering, professional negligence, and financial services.

Arbitration is a consensual dispute resolution process based on the parties’ agreement to submit their dispute to an arbitral tribunal. An arbitration is conducted in accordance with the parties’ arbitration agreement and choice of procedure.

Step 1

The first step is for the parties to agree to resolve their dispute by the process of arbitration.

It may be that an arbitration agreement is already in place. This may take the form of a provision in a pre-existing contract which provides for the parties to submit the dispute to arbitration.

However, even where the parties do not have a pre-existing arbitration agreement in place, there is nothing to prevent them from agreeing to use the arbitral process in order to resolve their dispute. Subject to certain limited exceptions, any kind of dispute is capable of being referred to arbitration

Step 2

The second step is to make contact with one of our arbitration clerks to discuss. They will advise you of suitable arbitrators, costs, availability and assist with any queries you may have.

Step 3

The third step is to review and sign the Selborne Arbitration Agreement in order to initiate the arbitration. An editable copy of the Selborne Arbitration Agreement is available. It is open to such modification and alteration as the parties may agree.

Step 4

Once the arbitrator has been appointed, one of our arbitration clerks or the arbitrator will contact the parties with regard to the progression of the arbitration.

Agreement

In order to initiate the arbitration, parties are invited to complete and sign the Selborne Arbitration Agreement.

Download agreement

If you have any queries regarding the Selborne Arbitration Agreement, or if you wish to use a modified version of the Selborne Arbitration Agreement, tailored to the circumstances of your dispute, please do not hesitate to contact one of our arbitration clerks.

The rules

Parties to an arbitration are free to choose their own rules and procedures.

Typically, parties choose to adopt a ready-made set of arbitration rules. To assist the parties, SCA offers three sets of arbitration rules as follows

THE MODEL RULES

The Selborne Chambers Arbitration – Model Rules (“the Model Rules”) are designed for higher value arbitrations, especially those likely to involve multiple witnesses and a substantive hearing lasting more than one day

Download THE MODEL RULES

THE DOCUMENTS RULES

The Selborne Chambers Arbitration – Documents Rules (“the Documents Rules”) are designed for when the parties have decided that there is no need for an oral hearing. The dispute is resolved only by reference to the statements of case and the documents submitted by the parties.

Download THE DOCUMENTS RULES

THE SMALL CLAIMS RULES

The Selborne Chambers Arbitration – Small Claims Rules (“the Small Claims Rules”) are designed to provide an expeditious and cost-effective means of resolving low value disputes, typically not exceeding £25,000 in value. The Small Claims Rules are not suitable for use in cases which involve complex issues or require examination of a large number of witnesses. The Small Claims Rules involve an uncomplicated procedure which limits the amount of costs recoverable by the parties

Download THE SMALL CLAIMS RULES

Each set of rules may be modified or altered as the parties see fit.

SCA arbitrators are also familiar with, and prepared to conduct arbitral proceedings pursuant to, other institutional rules, including the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, the LCIA Arbitration Rules, the SIAC Rules, the ICC Rules of Arbitration, the CIETAC Arbitration Rules and the HKIAC Arbitration Rules. For more information, please contact one of our arbitration clerks.

Pricing

The fees payable for an SCA arbitration will vary depending upon: (i) the complexity of the arbitration; (ii) the chosen procedure and rules; and (iii) the seniority of the arbitrator.

At the outset, we encourage parties to contact one of our arbitration clerks. They will be able to help the parties select the most appropriate arbitrator and to discuss fees.

see our fees

Facilities

Subject to availability, We are able to accommodate some arbitration hearings at Selborne Chambers.

Alternatively, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators is also able to provide a hearing venue or, if the parties have a preferred location (whether in London or elsewhere), the arbitrator will be happy to travel to your venue of choice.

Where parties intend to make their own accommodation arrangements for the arbitration hearing, we suggest that they contact one of arbitration clerks before booking any accommodation. They will be able to advise you as to the number of rooms required and discuss any other relevant considerations

Download THE MODEL RULES