Judge David Foxton outlines new approaches to fragmented dispute resolution

Article summary

Commercial Court Judge, David Foxton has delivered a speech at the International Bar Association (IBA) Arbitration Day. The speech outlined recent developments in managing complex multi-party disputes between courts and arbitration. Foxton highlighted two key 2023 decisions from the UK Supreme Court and Privy Council that modified the approach to stays under section 9 of the Arbitration Act 1996, introducing a new two-stage test for determining arbitrable matters and considering parties' motives in seeking stays. The speech also addressed courts' expanding use of case management stays and called for arbitration institutions to develop more robust consolidation mechanisms.