Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Arbitration definition

What does Arbitration mean? Arbitration is a private process where parties resolve disputes by one or more arbitrators who issue a final, binding award instead of a court judgment. It is consensual, usually agreed by an arbitration clause, and the law of the seat governs the procedure (lex arbitri). In England and Wales and Northern Ireland, the Arbitration Act 1996 applies. Courts stay court proceedings in favour of arbitration, provide support, and enforce awards; challenges are limited to lack of jurisdiction (s.67), serious irregularity (s.68) and, unless excluded, appeal on a point of law (s.69). In Scotland, the Arbitration (Scotland) Act 2010 provides a similar...

Arbitration Act 1996: Procedure for Arbitration Claims in the Courts of England and Wales—Claim Form, Evidence, Service and Case Management

Published by a LexisNexis Arbitration expert

Practice notes

This PrACTice Note reviews the general process for bringing Arbitration Claims before the courts of England and Wales under the Arbitration Act 1996 (AA 1996) (in this Practice Note, English and England are adopted as convenient shorthand). Any further considerations specific to particular types of arbitration claim will be addressed in the Practice Notes or other materials that concentrate on those applications.

What is an arbitration claim?

For those contemplating an application to the court under AA 1996 for the first time, the phrases ‘starting an arbitration claim’ and using an ‘arbitration claim form’ can cause uncertainty, as they may imply the initiation of the substantive arbitration. In practice, arbitration is generally commenced by notices of arbitration (in ad hoc arbitration) or by requests/demands/notices for arbitration (in institutional arbitration), rather than by a claim form of the kind used to start litigation.

Despite this potential ambiguity, the CPR, Practice Directions and the English judiciary usually refer to ‘arbitration claims’ rather than arbitration-related applications, although in some instances the courts also employ the language of ‘applications’...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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