CAYMAN ISLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Alan Bercow and Jae Shin, Appleby
10. The Award 10.1 Legal Requirements
parties, and the decision is either obviously wrong or the question is one of general public importance (Sec - tion 76 of the Arbitration Act). The courts also have the power to set aside an arbitral award on the following grounds: (i) a party was under an incapacity or entered into an arbitration agreement under duress; (ii) the arbitration agreement was not valid; (iii) the party was not given proper notice, or was otherwise unable to present their case; (iv) the award deals with a dispute not contemplated by or not falling within the terms of the submis - sion to arbitration or contains decisions on mat - ters beyond the scope of that submission; (v) the composition of the tribunal or arbitral pro - cedure was not in accordance with the parties’ agreement; (vi) the award was induced or affected by fraud, cor - ruption or misconduct on the part of the arbitra - tor; (vii) breach of natural justice; (viii) the subject matter of the dispute was not arbi - trable; or (ix) the award is contrary to public policy (Section 75 of the Arbitration Act). The courts have held a dispute not falling within the terms of the submission to arbitration (see (iv) above) to be “effectively the same as saying that the tribunal did not have substantive jurisdiction to determine the issue in dispute” ( Appalachian Reinsurance ( Bermuda ) Ltd v Mangino , Hall , Tobin and Greenlight Reinsurance Ltd (2014), 1 CILR 152). In relation to both an appeal or an application to set an award aside, the applicant must first have exhausted every available arbitral process of appeal or review and for correction of the award. The time limit for applying for leave to appeal or to set the award aside is one month from the date of the award or, if there has been any appeal or review by the arbitral tribunal, from the date that the applicant was notified of the result (Section 77 of the Arbitration Act).
Cayman Islands law contains requirements as to the form and content of the arbitral award. It must be signed by the arbitrator(s), state the reasons on which the award is based (unless the parties have agreed otherwise), state the date and seat of the award, and a copy must be delivered to each party (Section 63 of the Arbitration Act). Unless the arbitration agreement contains a time limit for delivery of the award, there is no set time within which an award must be delivered. Where an award is remitted by the court to the arbi - tral tribunal, the arbitral tribunal must make its award within three months of the order remitting the award (unless the order provides otherwise) (Sections 76 (8) and 78 (3) of the Arbitration Act). 10.2 Types of Remedies The parties can agree on the remedies that the arbi - tral tribunal can award, and in the absence of such agreement the arbitral tribunal can award any remedy or relief that could have been ordered had the dis - pute proceeded in court (Section 57 of the Arbitration Act). However, certain remedies (such as winding-up orders) that are reserved exclusively to the Cayman Islands court cannot be made by an arbitral tribunal (see 3.2 Arbitrability ). 10.3 Recovering Interest and Legal Costs Although there is no statutory entitlement to interest or legal costs, subject to any agreement of the parties otherwise, interest and costs are at the discretion of the arbitral tribunal. Post-award interest runs at the same rate as for judgment debts unless the award directs otherwise (Sections 58 and 64 of the Arbitra - tion Act).
11. Review of an Award 11.1 Grounds for Appeal
There is no entitlement to appeal an arbitral award to the Cayman Islands courts. The courts can give leave to appeal an arbitral award on a question of law aris - ing out of the award. The requirements for granting leave include that the determination of the question will substantially affect the rights of one or more of the
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