SRI LANKA Law and Practice Contributed by: Amrit Rajapakse, Law Chambers of Amrit Rajapakse
10.2 Types of Remedies The Act is silent on the types of remedies that an arbi - tral tribunal may award. Remedies normally awarded by arbitral tribunals in Sri Lanka are declaratory relief, damages, specific performance, rectification, injunc - tions, interest and costs. Punitive damages are not available in Sri Lanka. 10.3 Recovering Interest and Legal Costs Section 28 of the Act provides that, unless the parties have agreed otherwise, the arbitral tribunal may award interest on any principal sums ordered to be paid in the award. The power to award interest includes both pre-award and post-award interest. Interest shall be awarded at the rate agreed by the parties in the arbi - tration agreement or, failing such agreement, at the legal rate of interest. The act is silent on awarding of legal costs. However, in the absence of any statutory indication to the con - trary, arbitral tribunals in Sri Lanka normally assume a power to award costs. Such a power may also be conferred on the arbitral tribunal by the parties either explicitly or implicitly (as where both parties pray for costs in their pleadings). Typically, the general rule that costs follow the event applies; however, if there is no clear winner and loser, the arbitral tribunal will engage in some form of apportionment of costs. Arbitral tribu - nals will also consider whether the costs were reason - able and proportionate, the conduct of the parties (eg, whether any party engaged in any dilatory tactics) and any settlement offers. An arbitral award is not subject to appeal in Sri Lanka. A party seeking recourse against an arbitral award is confined to the following remedies: • correction of computational errors, clerical or typographical errors or similar errors (Section 27 (1) (a)(i)); • modification of the award where part of the award is on a matter not referred to arbitration (Section 27 (1)(a)(ii)); 11. Review of an Award 11.1 Grounds for Appeal
such document or do such thing. An application to the high court for an order under Section 21 (1) may be made by a party to the arbitration proceedings with notice given to the other parties and the prior sanction or consent of the arbitral tribunal.
9. Confidentiality 9.1 Extent of Confidentiality
The Act is silent as to confidentiality of arbitral pro - ceedings or their constituent parts (eg, pleadings, documents, the award). However, confidentiality obli - gations are included in the main institutional arbitra - tion rules in Sri Lanka. Confidentiality is also often included as an item on the agenda of most preliminary hearings in arbitrations in Sri Lanka. Court proceedings in Sri Lanka are in general open to the public and documents filed in support of enforce - ment or setting aside applications would ordinarily be accessible to the public. 10. The Award 10.1 Legal Requirements Under Section 25 of the Act, an award should: • be in writing; • be signed by the arbitrators constituting the arbitral tribunal or by a majority of them, in which case the award should give the reason for any omitted signature; • state the reasons upon which it is based, unless the parties have agreed to dispense with reasons or the award is an award on agreed terms under Section 14; • be dated; and • state the place of arbitration. Under Section 25 (4), an original signed copy of the award should be delivered to each party to the arbi - tration. The Act does not prescribe any time limits for delivery of the award. However, most institutional arbitration rules specify time limits.
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