Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

K1 v B: Court of Appeal upholds s68(4) appeal bar and confirms s68(2)(g) targets award procurement, not underlying illegality, under the Arbitration Act 1996

Published on: 24 March 2026

Published by a LexisNexis Arbitration expert

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Article summary

K1 v B [2026] EWCA Civ 261 What are the practical implications of this case?

This judgment reinforces the tight constraints under English law on appeals from decisions addressing challenges to arbitral awards, including ‘serious irregularity’ claims. Section 68(4) of the Act is one of 17 provisions that restrict the authority to grant permission to appeal to the first instance judge. These statutory curbs advance the Act’s aims of speed and finality, cannot be displaced by party agreement or judicial order, and allow only very limited exceptions.

Separately, the judgment reiterates that an arbitral award will not be set aside simply because the proceedings concerned a claim to enforce an illegal or unenforceable contract. Section 68(2)(g) of the Act permits a challenge where an award was procured by fraud (or offends public policy). The Applicant maintained that the award should be set aside on that footing, contending that the underlying agreement amounted to a ‘contract for fraud’...

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