The High Court has granted Principal Contractors Limited leave to enforce an arbitration award requiring Wesley Carter to pay €40,224.10 in the arbitrator’s fees and expenses, plus statutory interest from 2 June 2023.
In a judgment delivered on 21 June 2024, Mr Justice David Barniville, President of the High Court, said the award was binding because Carter had not applied to set it aside under the procedure in the UNCITRAL Model Law. The court entered judgment for the award amount under section 23 of the Arbitration Act 2010.
The dispute arose from construction and conservation works at Carter’s home in Co. Kildare. The parties settled their substantive dispute in February 2019. Under their settlement, Carter agreed to discharge the arbitrator’s costs, subject to a right to seek independent taxation, now known as adjudication, under section 21 of the 2010 Act.
The arbitrator assessed her costs and issued a “Final Consent Award”, dated 7 June 2019 and provided to the parties on 19 August 2019. Principal Contractors had paid the arbitrator €40,224.10 to secure release of the award and sought reimbursement from Carter. Carter disputed the amount and argued that his solicitors had requested that the costs be referred for adjudication.
The judge found that no valid request had been made. He said the relevant time limit was 21 working days after the arbitrator’s determination, which was provided in detail by 20 or 21 August 2019. Letters from Carter’s solicitors either sought further cost details, said they intended to seek a reference later, or were sent before the determination. The 21 August letter did not itself ask the arbitrator to refer the costs for adjudication.
The judge also rejected the claim that Principal Contractors had frustrated Carter’s opportunity to seek adjudication by paying the arbitrator. He said the award could have been challenged through an application to set it aside, but no such application was brought.
Although the award provided for interest, the judge declined to award it for the period before the enforcement proceedings began. He cited Principal Contractors’ delay in bringing the case, which was issued on 2 June 2023, and ordered statutory interest on €40,224.10 from that date.
The court’s provisional view was that Principal Contractors should receive the costs of the enforcement proceedings, subject to adjudication if the parties could not agree. The judge gave Carter ten days to make a written submission disputing that view and listed the matter for final orders, including costs, on 17 July 2024.