The Law Commission of England and Wales has concluded its review of the Arbitration Act 1996. In our International Arbitration Survey 2022, we canvased views on the potential areas for reform of the Act.  On 6 September, the Law Commission published a final report setting out its conclusions and recommendations for the reform together with a draft Arbitration Bill. The headline point is that the new Act will not contain any dramatic changes.  A common refrain during the consultation process was that the 1996 Act was fundamentally sound and there was no need for a fundamental re-draft. Instead, the focus has been on incremental improvements to the Act to ensure that it remains “state of the art” and “continues to support London’s world-leading role in international arbitration.” Here is a summary of what we can expect to see in a new Arbitration Act.

For over ten years, BCLP’s International Arbitration Group has conducted a number of surveys on issues affecting the arbitration process including: cyber-security in arbitration proceedings (2019), rights of appeal (2020), expert evidence (2021) and the reform of the Arbitration Act 1996 (2022). This year our survey topic is artificial intelligence (AI) and the impact of its use in international arbitration.

Cost and delay remain the two areas of greatest concern to parties in arbitration. A particular source of frustration is that it can sometimes take many months for arbitrators to deliberate and issue an award. As a result, we are increasingly being asked whether arbitration agreements should include a deadline for the delivery of an award. This article considers some of the pros and cons of setting a deadline for the delivery of an award.