Written Communications, Waiver of the Right to Object, and the Limit on Judicial Intervention

In one line

Four short sections that decide when a notice counts as received, when a party has lost the right to complain about a breach of procedure, and when a court may step into an arbitration at all.

In exam wording: sections 3 to 6 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 are the general provisions of Part I, governing the receipt of written communications, waiver of the right to object, the extent of judicial intervention, and administrative assistance.

Why four sections nobody sets an essay on still matter

Because two of them win cases.

Section 4 is how a party who sat silent through an irregularity is stopped from raising it after losing.

Section 5 is the sentence a court is shown whenever somebody tries to bring an arbitration into court by a route the Act does not provide.

Section 3: when a communication is received

Section 3(1), unless otherwise agreed by the parties:

• (a) any written communication is deemed to have been received if it is delivered to the addressee personally, or at his place of business, habitual residence or mailing address; and
• (b) if none of those places can be found after making a reasonable inquiry, a written communication is deemed received if it is sent to the addressee's last known place of business, habitual residence or mailing address by registered letter or by any other means which provides a record of the attempt to deliver it.

Section 3(2): the communication is deemed to have been received on the day it is so delivered.

Section 3(3): the section does not apply to written communications in respect of proceedings of any judicial authority. So service of court process is governed by the Code of Civil Procedure, not by this section.

The point of clause (b) is that a respondent cannot defeat an arbitration by disappearing. Once a reasonable inquiry has been made, sending to the last known address by a means that records the attempt is enough, and the communication counts as received even though nobody read it. Note the two conditions: reasonable inquiry first, and a means that provides a record.

Everything in section 3 opens with "unless otherwise agreed by the parties", so an arbitration agreement or a set of institutional rules may provide differently, including for service by electronic means.

Section 4: waiver of the right to object

A party who knows that:

• (a) any provision of Part I from which the parties may derogate, or
• (b) any requirement under the arbitration agreement,

has not been complied with, and yet proceeds with the arbitration without stating his objection to that non-compliance without undue delay, or within any time limit provided for the objection, shall be deemed to have waived his right to so object.