Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Section 32 Arbitration Act 1996: Commercial Court permits determination of arbitral tribunal’s jurisdiction, emphasising exceptional urgency, cost savings and high threshold (Barclays Bank plc v VEB.RF)

Published on: 03 March 2025

Published by a LexisNexis Arbitration expert

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Article summary

Barclays Bank plc v VEB.RF [2024] EWHC 2981 (Comm)

What are the practical implications of this case?

The ruling confirms, as earlier cases have said, that satisfaction of the statutory conditions in section 32(2) of the Arbitration Act is a fact‑specific enquiry to be answered by reference to the case’s own circumstances. This was an unusual example where those conditions were met; the court observed that only a small number of section 32 applications have ever succeeded. A decisive factor was the parties’ agreement that the dispute had to be resolved with exceptional urgency. In that context, speed was better served by the court, rather than the tribunal, determining the tribunal’s jurisdiction. Although on this occasion the court was prepared to exercise its supervisory role over the arbitration, the decision highlights its general reluctance to intervene and stresses that any section 32 bid must clear a demanding bar.

What was the background? What issues were before the court?...

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