This publication by Templars Partner, Adewale Atake, SAN, and Senior Associate, Orji A. Uka, highlights the transformative provision in the AMA regarding recourse against arbitral awards. It focuses on the defence of “error of law on the face of the award” and its effects on arbitration practice in Nigeria.
One of the thorniest questions in the field of international arbitration is the question of
whether, and to what extent, national courts, when called upon to set aside an arbitral
award or to refuse its recognition and enforcement, can undertake a review of the arbitral
award on the merit. The posterchild for this controversy is the oft-cited case of Dallah v.
Pakistan where the UK Supreme Court1 and the Paris Cour d’Appel, within three months of
each other, arrived at two contradictory decisions on the enforceability of an arbitral
award rendered against the Government of Pakistan. The conflicting decisions stemmed
from the varying degree of review of arbitral awards permitted under both legal systems.
In the context of domestic or Nigeria-seated international arbitrations, this controversy finds
expression in the phrase, “error of law on the face of the award” and has inhibited the
growth and development of the field of commercial arbitration in Nigeria for decades. This
article explores how the Arbitration and Mediation Act 2023 (the “AMA”)3 appears to have,
in one stroke, laid the controversy to rest in Nigeria.
Read the full publication here.
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Read the original publication at Templars.