ABSTRACT
Reinsurance and insurance agreements will often contain a clause agreeing to arbitration. The aim of an arbitration agreement is, plainly, to remove a dispute from the primary jurisdiction of the state-court system, for adjudication according to a process determined or selected by the parties. The relationship between arbitration proceedings and court proceedings has aptly been described as a “relay race” in which from time to time the baton passes to the courts from the arbitral tribunal for specific reasons. The substantive jurisdiction of the English courts is primarily governed by the Arbitration Act 1996. In general, the English courts have a number of powers enumerated in the Act provided the seat of the arbitration is in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, and a few specific powers even if the seat is not. The Atlantic Emperor concerned an application for a court order for the appointment of an arbitrator which was within the exclusion.
