ABSTRACT
Section 38 of the Arbitration Act 1996 is of major consequence and a very significant advance over the earlier Acts. It provides the parties with the power to define the powers they wish to vest the arbitrator with, and in default of such agreement, specifies the powers which the arbitrator will be deemed to have. Later sections provide for judicial control of these powers but it is clear from the Act that Parliament intended to and has strengthened the position of the arbitrator very significantly.
