On 23 November 2020, the English Commercial Court (the "Court") upheld a challenge brought by the Republic of Kazakhstan ("Kazakhstan") under section 68(2)(a) of the Arbitration Act 1996 (the "Act"). The Court held that the tribunal had awarded damages to World Wide Minerals Limited ("WWM") and another (together, the "Defendants") on the basis of a point to which Kazakhstan had not been given any fair opportunity to respond (the "Challenge").1 The Court found that as a result Kazakhstan suffered substantial injustice arising out of a serious irregularity. In the investment arbitration proceedings, the Defendants had put forward a "rolled up claim"2 (or a "global claim")3 and sought damages based on the assumption that all its allegations would succeed but had not identified what losses were caused by each of the breaches alleged. Although the tribunal only found liability for certain breaches, the tribunal awarded damages without giving Kazakhstan the opportunity to address quantum in light of the findings on liability.
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Footnotes
1 Republic of Kazakhstan v World Wide Minerals Limited and another [2020] EWHC 3068 (Comm).
2 [11].
3 [43].
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