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Procedural Background
This document comprises procedural correspondence from the Presiding Arbitrator on behalf of the Tribunal, addressing the Respondent’s notification that the Federal High Court of Nigeria had issued an order on May 24, 2016, purporting to set aside the Tribunal’s July 17, 2015 award on liability.
Tribunal's Analysis and Directions
The principal issue addressed is the legal effect of the Nigerian court order on the ongoing arbitral proceedings. The Tribunal summarily dismissed the relevance of the local court's intervention, recalling its prior determination in Procedural Order No. 12 that the juridical seat of the arbitration is England. Applying standard principles of international arbitration law, the Tribunal concluded that the Nigerian courts inherently lacked supervisory jurisdiction to set aside an award rendered in an English-seated arbitration.
Consequently, the Tribunal directed that the arbitral proceedings would continue uninterrupted. The Tribunal instructed the Respondent to formally indicate by June 3, 2016, whether it intended to continue participating in the reference, noting that a formal Procedural Order governing the further conduct of the arbitration would subsequently be issued.
