A reminder to arbitrators of dos and don’ts according to the Paris Court of Appeal (H and M v Swiss Re)

Article summary

Arbitration analysis: In a decision rendered on 7 February 2023, the Paris Court of Appeal revisited the scope and limits of an arbitral tribunal’s powers in the context of annulment proceedings brought against an international arbitral award. The Paris Court of Appeal partially annulled an ICC award on the grounds that the arbitral tribunal had ruled ultra petita by ordering certain respondent parties to be jointly and severally liable with the main respondent debtor to pay certain sums to the claimant, although no request for joint and several liability had been made by the latter. Save for this carve-out, the Paris Court of Appeal nonetheless upheld the rest of the award after dismissing several grounds for annulment relating to an alleged lack of jurisdiction of the tribunal, a breach of the arbitral tribunal’s duty not to act ex aequo et bono and a breach of due process. In particular, the court...