Court’s role in Staying legal proceedings in favour of an arbitration agreement. Arbitration Q&A guide by Hesham Elrafei FCIArb

What is the court’s role in Staying legal proceedings in favor of an arbitration agreement?  

Staying legal proceedings in favor of an arbitration agreement (which is the enforcement of the arbitration agreement) represents the pro-arbitration bias present in many jurisdictions. 

The state courts play a complementary role in the arbitral process, supporting the arbitration by preventing parties from circumventing the process in breach of an arbitration agreement. 

For example, a party to an arbitration agreement can apply to the court to stay (ie stop) the legal proceedings in court when his opponent goes to court instead of arbitration. The court would therefore assist with the enforcement of the arbitration agreement signed between the parties.

Article 8 of the UNCITRAL Model Law says that:

If a case is filed before a court and it contains an arbitration agreement, the court shall, if a party so requests not later than when submitting his first statement on the substance of the dispute, refer the parties to arbitration unless it finds that the agreement is null and void, inoperative or incapable of being performed.

Arbitration Q&A guide by Hesham Elrafei FCIArb