Key takeaways

• In two recently released and anonymised decisions, the English High Court gave welcome and clear guidance for seeking disclosure in connection with an application to remove arbitrators, and the use of arbitral secretaries in the context of a challenge to the arbitrators under s.24 of the Arbitration Act 1996.
• The Court emphasised that it will not normally grant an order to remove arbitrators where the arbitral institution vested by the parties with power to grant the same order has refused to do so. This principled and non-interventionist approach exemplifies the English courts’ long-standing respect for parties’ choice to arbitrate.
• The guidance will likely be applied by extension to challenges under s.68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 and other Arbitration Claims.