Termination of Proceedings, Correction, Interpretation and Additional Awards

In one line

An arbitration ends with the final award, and for thirty days afterwards the tribunal can still fix slips, explain a point, or decide a claim it forgot.

In exam wording: section 32 provides how arbitral proceedings are terminated and when the tribunal's mandate ends, and section 33 permits the correction of errors, the interpretation of a specific point or part of an award, and the making of an additional award.

Section 32: how an arbitration ends

Section 32(1): the arbitral proceedings shall be terminated by the final arbitral award or by an order of the arbitral tribunal under sub-section (2).

Section 32(2): the tribunal shall issue an order for termination where:

• (a) the claimant withdraws his claim, unless the respondent objects to the order and the arbitral tribunal recognises a legitimate interest on his part in obtaining a final settlement of the dispute;
• (b) the parties agree on the termination; or
• (c) the tribunal finds that the continuation of the proceedings has for any other reason become unnecessary or impossible.

Clause (a)'s exception is the interesting one and it is easy to see the point once stated. A claimant who realises it is going to lose might withdraw, wait, and start again. The respondent, who has spent two years and a great deal of money, may have a legitimate interest in a final settlement of the dispute rather than a withdrawal that settles nothing. Where the tribunal recognises that interest, the arbitration continues to an award.

Clause (c) is a residual power and it covers the practical dead ends: the subject matter has ceased to exist, a party has been dissolved, or the claim has been overtaken by events.

Section 32(3): subject to section 33 and section 34(4), the mandate of the arbitral tribunal shall terminate with the termination of the arbitral proceedings.

This is the sentence that explains the whole chapter. Once the proceedings end, the tribunal is functus officio, a Latin expression meaning that it has discharged its office and has no further authority. It cannot reconsider, add to, or improve its award.

Two exceptions are built into the sub-section, and they are the reason sections 33 and 34(4) exist:

• Section 33, which lets the tribunal correct, interpret or supplement the award within a short window; and
• Section 34(4), under which a court hearing a setting aside application may adjourn and give the tribunal an opportunity to resume proceedings or take such action as will eliminate the grounds for setting aside. Chapter 400 works through it.

Section 33: the short window after the award

Section 33 gives three different remedies with three different time limits. Keep them apart.