UK Law and Practice Contributed by: Roger Gherson, Emma Anderson, Cong Gao, Elizaveta Rachkova and Galiya Mustafina, Gherson Solicitors LLP
vide the equivalent function for both domestic and international arbitration-related matters.
Enka Insaat Ve Sanayi AS v OOO Insurance Co Chubb [2020] UKSC 38); codification of the arbitrator’s con - tinuing duty of disclosure (Section 23A); an express, non-mandatory power of summary disposal (Section 39A); streamlined Section 67 challenges, limiting new grounds, evidence and rehearing; strengthened arbi - trator immunity; express enforceability of emergency arbitrators’ orders; and extension of Section 44 pow - ers to orders against third parties. As to pending developments, following the Civil Jus - tice Council’s June 2025 review, the government announced in December 2025 that it will legislate to clarify (with prospective effect) that litigation funding agreements are not damages-based agreements, mit - igating the negative impact of the Supreme Court’s decision in P ACCAR of R ( on the application of PAC- CAR Inc and others ) v Competition Appeal Tribunal and others [2023] UKSC 28, and to introduce pro - portionate regulation of litigation funding agreements. The Civil Justice Council had recommended that arbi - tration funding remain outside formal regulation, but the government’s statement did not expressly confirm this exclusion. The legislation is awaited. Under English law, the formal requirements for an enforceable arbitration agreement are minimal, and the courts adopt a pro-arbitration approach. Section 6 of the Arbitration Act 1996 defines an arbi - tration agreement as an agreement to submit present or future disputes to arbitration. Section 5 requires the agreement to be in writing, but this requirement is defined broadly: it includes agreements made in writing (whether or not signed), by exchange of com - munications, evidenced in writing or by reference to written terms. “Writing” includes anything recorded by any means. Incorporation by reference is permitted under Section 6 (2). Oral agreements fall outside the Act but may be recognised at common law (Section 81 (1)(b)). 3. The Arbitration Agreement 3.1 Enforceability No elaborate wording is required, provided there is sufficient certainty. Ordinary contract principles such
2. Governing Legislation 2.1 Governing Law
International arbitration seated in England and Wales is governed by the Arbitration Act 1996, as amended by the Arbitration Act 2025, which applies to England, Wales and Northern Ireland (Scotland has its own leg - islation). The 1996 Act applies a single regime to both domestic and international arbitration, without a sepa - rate “international” category. The 1996 Act is not an adoption of the UNCITRAL Model Law, although its drafters had close regard to it and it follows the Model Law’s structure and many of its principles, including party autonomy, competence- competence, separability and limited court interven - tion. It diverges in significant respects: it applies to domestic and international arbitration alike; the “writ - ing” requirement is broader; the tribunal must be impartial, but there is no free-standing requirement of independence (although the 2025 Act introduces a statutory duty of disclosure under Section 23A); the courts retain a right of appeal on a point of law under Section 69 (which parties may, and under most insti - tutional rules do, exclude), jurisdictional review under Sections 67 (substantive jurisdiction) and 68 (serious irregularity); and, since the 2025 amendments, the Act contains a default rule on the law governing the arbi - tration agreement (Section 6A) and an express power of summary disposal (Section 39A), neither of which has a Model Law counterpart. 2.2 Changes to National Law The Arbitration Act 2025, the most significant reform in a generation, received Royal Assent on 24 February 2025 and applies to arbitrations and court proceed - ings commenced on or after that date (regardless of when the arbitration agreement was made). Following the Law Commission’s review, it amends rather than replaces the 1996 Act. Key changes include: a default rule that the arbitration agreement is governed by the law expressly agreed or, failing that, the law of the seat (Section 6A, reversing
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