Description
ABSTRACT
An Examination of the Power of the Nigerian Courts to Set Aside an Arbitral Award Based on Error of Law on the Face of the Award
Adeola Agunbiade*
An unsuccessful party in an arbitration proceeding will more often than not seek to ascertain if there is scope to annul or challenge such outcome. Statutorily, there is limited scope for interference with an award as the grounds for challenge are more concerned with whether the tribunal had jurisdiction to determine the dispute and if the tribunal followed universal principles, such as due process. There is less focus on whether the decision itself was right or wrong. Rather, the courts are often cautioned not to interfere with the arbitral award simply because they would have reached a different conclusion. Regardless, judicial authorities posit at least as far as Nigerian law is concerned, that awards can be set aside based on error of law on the face of the award in certain contexts. The true meaning of the term- error of law on the face of the award, is however subject to varying interpretations. The article examines its true meaning by examining relevant case laws on the subject. This exercise reveals that there is first a restrictive approach in construing its meaning. In other words, a tribunal is only deemed to have committed an error of law where it applies an erroneous legal proposition in determining legal issues arising from a general reference. In applying this narrow meaning however, there has been an expansion by the appellate courts (whether deliberate or not) of the term to cover situations where a correct principle of law though acknowledged, is ignored. It has also been applied where the findings of fact are not quite in tandem with the conclusion in law. It is also used as a broad guidepost of verifying if there is anything unusually wrong with the award as far as legal principles are concerned.
Keywords: Arbitration Proceeding; Arbitral Award; Error of Law; Courts; Nigerian Law.
*LLB (Hons), BL, LLM (Toronto), Senior Associate, Banwo & Ighodalo, Dispute Resolution & ADR Practice Group, Lagos, Nigeria.
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