Articles

This article covers recent decisions regarding judicial controls on the exercise of adjudicator’s powers.

CHALLENGE OF ADJUDICATOR’S DECISIONS – NATURAL JUSTICE

General

Our greatest disappointment is the lack of any progress in relation to amendments to the Act. The Society has always seen no reason why oral contracts should be excluded from the adjudication provisions. It is often the most vulnerable that enter into oral contracts.

This Newsletter comes to you just before the August break – perhaps some of you are just leaving on holiday to, say, the Sahara Desert – it would at least be cooler than London.

It’s about time that a new detailed construction law publication hit the shelves, and here it is. This book deals in detail with a wide range of current legal issues that arise in respect of construction contracts.

In this occasional column, we look at legal issues which are frequently raised by parties to adjudication (and indeed arbitration) and which are not necessarily fully understood. This time the subject is impossibility.

In Sandhu Menswear Company Limited and Woolworths Plc (5th June 2006, as yet unreported), in the High Court in Birmingham, HHJ Frances Kirkham had to rule as to whether Woolworths were liable to the claimants for the damage caused by a fire. The fire had been caused by third parties.