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Motion to quash appeal granted; no appeal lies from court decision on arbitrator's jurisdiction.
The moving party brought a motion to quash an appeal from an application judge's decision setting aside an arbitrator's ruling that added subcontractors as parties to an arbitration.
The Court of Appeal granted the motion to quash, finding that the arbitrator's decision to add parties was a question of jurisdiction under the Arbitration Act, 1991.
Pursuant to section 17(9) of the Act, no appeal lies from a court's decision on a question of an arbitrator's jurisdiction.
Arbitrator's decision to join subcontractors set aside as they were not parties to the arbitration agreement.
The applicant, Covanta, brought an application to set aside an arbitrator's decision to join two subcontractors to an ongoing arbitration between Covanta and the general contractor.
The arbitrator had joined the subcontractors under Article 17(5) of the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules.
Covanta argued the arbitrator exceeded his jurisdiction because the subcontractors were not parties to the arbitration agreement.
The Superior Court of Justice held that the arbitrator's decision was jurisdictional in nature and subject to review on a standard of correctness.
The Court found that the subcontractors were not parties to the arbitration agreement, as the subcontract did not properly incorporate the arbitration clause by reference.
The Court set aside the arbitrator's ruling and awarded costs of $50,000 to the applicant.
