Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

England and Wales: TCC refuses s 9 Arbitration Act 1996 stay of Part 20 contribution claim; artificial SHA breach and technical matters arguments rejected; BHP not bound by arbitration clause

Published on: 25 January 2024

Published by a LexisNexis Arbitration expert

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Article summary

Municipio de Mariana and others v BHP Group (UK) Ltd and another [2023] EWHC 3281 (TCC)

What are the practical implications of this case?

This decision underscores that the courts will not allow an artificially crafted pleading to force a dispute into an arbitration clause’s reach. Vale SA (‘Vale’) advanced three strands to contend that the Part 20 contribution proceedings brought by BHP Group (UK) Ltd and BHP Group Ltd (together, ‘BHP’) were enveloped by an arbitration provision in a shareholder agreement (‘SHA’):

that every dispute arising from the parties’ relationship fell within the arbitration clause;
that a core issue in the proceedings was an alleged breach of the SHA;
that the proceedings concerned technical matters.

The arbitration agreement expressly referred to both technical issues and breaches of the SHA. However, the first and third strands failed on the proper construction of the clause. Moreover, references to any breach of the SHA surfaced only in Vale’s defence to the Part 20 claim...

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