ABSTRACT

A tribunal’s powers, although broad, are nonetheless limited. For instance, a tribunal cannot direct an order against a third party or grant injunctions. 1 Moreover, sometimes parties need relief before the tribunal is constituted. The court, therefore, has a role in protecting the process and ensuring that it is not rendered otiose for want of some form of interim relief. This chapter, therefore, considers the court’s role in the early stages of an arbitration. Other areas of court intervention are dealt with elsewhere in this book. The following topics are addressed:

procedure;

injunctions, including freezing orders, relating to London arbitration;

other provisional measures;

section 44(6) of the 1996 Act;

preliminary points of law;

anti-suit injunctions to restrain foreign proceedings and anti-arbitration injunctions; and

aiding foreign arbitrations.