Serious Irregularity

Section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 allows a party to arbitral proceedings to apply to the court challenging an award in the proceedings on the ground of serious irregularity affecting the tribunal, the proceedings or the award. The section defines serious irregularity as an irregularity of one of nine specified kinds — including the tribunal exceeding its powers, failing to conduct proceedings in accordance with the procedure agreed by the parties, failing to deal with all the issues put to it, or an award obtained by fraud or contrary to public policy — which the court considers has caused or will cause substantial injustice to the applicant.

Where serious irregularity is established, the court may remit the award to the tribunal for reconsideration, set it aside in whole or in part, or declare it to be of no effect. The Act directs the court not to exercise the power to set aside or declare an award of no effect unless satisfied that it would be inappropriate to remit the matter to the tribunal, reflecting arbitration law's general policy of minimising court intervention. A party can also lose the right to raise a serious irregularity under section 73 if it failed to object during the arbitration itself.