Under English law, if a claimant unreasonably delays the prosecution of its claims, the arbitral tribunal has discretion to dismiss them for “want of prosecution” (or to take less drastic measures to “penalize” the claimant, for instance, in terms of costs, interest or the conduct of the proceedings). Yet, it will normally not do so, […]
Demurrage Claims in International Arbitration
International arbitrations in the field of shipping and sales often include demurrage claims (“surestaries” in French) which constitute, using the expression of Professor Debattista, “the staple diet of shipping lawyers the world over”.[1] Although it is rarely defined in charterparties or sale contracts which usually provide for its rate only, the Baltic Code (2020) defines […]
How to Initiate an LMAA Arbitration
Initiating an LMAA arbitration is a simple process: it normally requires serving a Notice of Arbitration directly to the opposing side, which includes only skeletal information about the parties, the constitution of the arbitral tribunal, the claims and the relief sought. We discuss the role of the LMAA in an LMAA arbitration (Section I), the […]