- Arbitration and Conciliation Act Chapter 19, 1990
- Part I Arbitration
- Part II Conciliation
- Part III ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION
- Application of this Part of this Act and Composition of Arbitral Tribunal, etc.
- Making of Awards and Termination of proceedings
- Recognition and Enforcement of Awards
- Application of Arbitration Rules set out in the First Schedule
- Application of Convention on the recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards
- PART IV MISCELLANEOUS
Arbitration and Conciliation Act
Chapter 19
Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990
[14th March, 1998]
An Act to provide a unified legal frame work for the fair and efficient settlement of commercial disputes by arbitration and conciliation; and to make applicable the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards (New York Convention) to any award made in Nigeria or in any contracting State arising out of international commercial arbitration.
Part I
Arbitration
Arbitration agreement
1. (1) Every arbitration agreement shall be in writing contained-
(a) in a document signed by the parties; or
(b) in an exchange of letters, telex, telegrams or other means of communication which provide a record of the arbitration agreement; or
(c) in an exchange of points of claim an of defence in which the existence of an arbitration agreement is alleged by one party and denied by another.
(2) Any reference in a contract to a document containing an arbitration clause constitutes an arbitration agreement if such contact is in writing and the reference is such as to make that clause part of the contract.
2. Unless a contrary intention is expressed therein, an arbitration agreement shall be irrevocable except by agreement of parties or by leave of the court or judge.
3. An arbitration agreement shall not be invalid by reason of death of any party thereto but shall, in such an event, by enforcement by or against the personal representative of the deceased.
4. (1) A court before which an action which is the subject of an arbitration agreement is brought shall, if any party so request not later than when submitting his first statement on the substance of the dispute, order or stay of proceedings and refer the parties to arbitration.
(2) Where an action referred to in subsection (1) of this section has been brought before a court, arbitral proceedings may nevertheless be commenced or continued, and an award may be made by the arbitral tribunal while the matter is pending before the court.
5. (1) If any party to an arbitration agreement commences any action in any court with respect to any matter which is the subject of an arbitration agreement any party to the arbitration agreement may, at any time after appearance and before delivering any pleadings or taking any other steps in the proceedings, apply to the court to stay the proceedings.
(2) A court to which an application is made under subsection (1) of this section may, if it is satisfied-
(a) that there is no sufficient reason why the matter should not be referred to arbitration in accordance with the arbitration agreement; and
(b) that the applicant was at the time when the action was commenced and still remains ready and willing to do all things necessary to the proper conduct of the arbitration, make an order staying the proceedings.
Composition of Arbitral Tribunal
6. The parties to an arbitration agreement may determine the number of arbitrators to be appointed under the agreement, but where no such determination is made, the number of arbitrators shall be deemed to be there.
7. (1) Subject to subsection (3) and (4) of this section, the parties may specify in the arbitration agreement the procedure to be followed in appointing an arbitrator.
(2) Where no procedure is specified under subsection (1) of this section-
(a) in the case of an arbitration with three arbitrators, each party shall appoint one arbitrator and the two thus appointed shall appoint the third, so however that-
(i) if a party fails to appoint the arbitrator within thirty days of receipt of request to do so by the other party; or
(ii) if the two arbitrators fail to agree on the third arbitrator within thirty days of their appointments, the appointment shall be made by the court on the application of any party to the arbitration agreement;
(b) in the case of an arbitration with one arbitrator, where the parties fail to agree on one arbitrator, the appointment shall be made by the court on the application of any party to the arbitration agreement made within thirty days of such disagreement.
(3) Where, under an appointment procedure agreed upon by the parties-
(a) a party fails to act as required under the procedure; or
(b) the parties or two arbitrators are unable to reach agreement as required under the procedure; or
(c) third party, including an institution, fails to perform any duty imposed on it under the procedure,
any part may request the court to take the necessary measure, unless the appointment procedure agreed upon by the parties provides other means for securing the appointment.
(4) A decision of the court under the subsections (2) and (3) of this section shall not be subjected to appeal.
(5) The court in exercising its power of appointment under subsection (2) and (3) of this section shall have due regard to any qualifications required of arbitrator by the arbitration agreement and such other consideration as are likely to secure the appointment of an independent and impartial arbitrator.
8. (1) Any person who knows of any circumstances likely to give rise to any justifiable doubts as to his impartiality or independence shall, when approached in connection with an appointment as an arbitrator, forthwith disclose such circumstances to the parties.
(2) The duty to disclose impose under subsection (1) of this section shall continue after a person has been appointed as an arbitrator and subsist throughout the arbitral proceedings unless the arbitrator had previously disclosed the circumstances to the parties.
(3) An arbitrator may be challenged-
(a) if circumstances exist that give rise to justifiable doubts as to his impartiality or independence; or
(c) if he does not possess the qualifications agreed by the parties
9. (1) The parties may determine the procedure to be followed in challenging an arbitrator.
(2) Where no procedure is determined under subsection (1) of this section, a party who intends to challenge an arbitrator shall, within fifteen days of becoming aware of the constitution of the arbitral tribunal or becoming aware of any circumstances referred to in section 8 of this Act, send the arbitral tribunal a written statement of the reasons for the challenge.
(3) Unless the arbitrator who has been challenged withdraws from office or the other party agrees to the challenge, the arbitral tribunal shall decide on the challenge.
10. (1) The mandate of the arbitrator shall terminate-
(a) if he withdraws from office; or
(b) if the parties agree to terminate his appointment by reasons of his inability to perform his functions; or
(c) if for any reason he fails to act without undue delay.
(2) The fact that-
(a) an arbitrator withdraws from office under subsection (1) of this section or under section 9(3) of this Act; or
(b) a party agrees to the termination of the mandate of an arbitrator, shall not be construed as implying the existence of any ground or circumstances referred to in subsection (1) of this section or section 8(1) of this Act.
11. Where the mandate of an arbitrator terminates-
(a) under section 9 or 10 of this Act; or
(b) because of his withdrawal from office for any reason whatsoever; or
(c) because of the revocation of his mandate by agreement of the parties; or
(d) because of any other reason whatsoever,
a substitute arbitrator shall be appointed in accordance with the same rules and procedure that applied to the appointment of the arbitrator who is being replaced.
Jurisdiction of Arbitral Tribunal
12. (1) An arbitral tribunal shall be competent to rule on questions pertaining to its own jurisdiction and on any objections with respect to the existence or validity of an arbitration agreement.
(2) For purposes of subsection (1) of this section, an arbitration clause which forms part of a contract shall be treated as an agreement independent of the other terms of the contract and a decision by the arbitral tribunal that the contract is null and void shall not entail ipso jure the validity of the arbitration clause.
(3) In any arbitral proceedings a plea that the arbitral tribunal-
(a) does not have jurisdiction may be raised not later than the time of submission of the points of defence and a party is not precluded from raising such plea by reason that he has appointed or participated in the appointment of an arbitrator;
(b) is exceeding the scope of its authority may be raised as soon as the matter alleged to be beyond the scope of its authority is raised during the proceedings,
and the arbitral tribunal may, in either case, admit a later plea if it considers that the delay was justified.
(4) The arbitral tribunal may rule on any plea referred to it under subsection (3) of this section either as a preliminary question or in an award on the merits; and such ruling shall be final and binding.
13. Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the arbitral tribunal may before or during an arbitral proceedings-
(a) at the request of a party, order any party to take such interim measure of protection as the arbitral tribunal may consider necessary in respect of the subject matter of the dispute; and
(b) require any party to provide appropriate security in connection with any measure taken under paragraph (a) of this section
Conduct of Arbitral Proceedings
14.