Law of the arbitration proceedings—curial law or lex arbitri (England and Wales)

Produced in partnership with Jennifer Haywood of Serle Court

Practice notes

Law of the arbitration proceedings—curial law or lex arbitri (England and Wales)

Produced in partnership with Jennifer Haywood of Serle Court

Practice notes

STOP PRESS: This Practice Note has been updated in light of the new Arbitration Act 2025 and contains reference to amended provisions in the Arbitration Act 1996. For further information on when the new act comes into force see Practice Note: When will the Arbitration Act 2025 come into force?

This Practice Note considers the procedural Law of arbitration proceedings and how it is determined under the law of England and Wales (England and English are used as convenient shorthand).

The procedural law of the arbitral proceedings

The procedural law of an arbitration is also called the 'lex arbitri' or the 'curial law'. It provides the framework for the internal procedure of the arbitration itself and the power of the courts supervising and supporting the arbitration.

The detail of how an arbitration is to be proceeded is usually determined by any applicable arbitration rules, the procedural orders of the tribunal, and the parties' agreement. The curial law can, however, provide default rules and place limits on the autonomy of the

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Jennifer Haywood

Barrister, Serle Court

Jennifer is a barrister, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a CEDR accredited mediator.

Her practice as a barrister has covered much of the breadth of commercial chancery work, with an emphasis on disputes between members of partnerships, LPs, LLPs, companies and joint ventures and disputes involving alleged breaches of fiduciary duty/good faith, trusts and fraud. She is ranked in Band 1 for partnership by both Chambers and Partners and Legal 500.

Jennifer has sat as sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator and presiding arbitration in arbitrations covering a wide range of issues and sectors, including professional services, financial services, pharmaceutical supplies and real property, particularly in shareholder/partner/JV disputes.

She has also conducted over 50 mediations, many of them complex and emotionally charged, arising out of partnership, commercial, property and trust/probate disputes.

Jurisdiction(s):

United Kingdom

Key definition:

Law definition

What does Law mean?

means: (a) any legislation, regulation, by-law or subordinate legislation in force from time to time to which a party is subject and/or in any jurisdiction that the Services are provided to or in respect of; (b) the common law and laws of equity as applicable to the parties from time to time; (c) any binding court order, judgment or decree; (d) any applicable industry code, policy or standard; or (e) any applicable direction, policy, rule or order that is binding on a party and that is made or given by any regulatory body having jurisdiction over a party or any of that party’s assets, resources or business;

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