2 March, 2016
The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) has issued a Practice Note on Consolidation of Arbitrations, which came into effect on 1 January 2016 and applies to arbitrations in which a Request for Consolidation (Request) is submitted under Article 28 of the 2013 HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules (Rules) on or after 1 January 2016. It supplements the consolidation provisions of the Rules by setting out the particulars to be included in the Request and any response to the Request.
Under Article 28 of the Rules, the HKIAC has the power, at the Request of a party, and after consulting with the parties and any confirmed arbitrators, to consolidate two or more arbitrations pending under the Rules where (a) the parties agree to consolidate; or (b) all of the claims in the arbitration are made under the same arbitration agreement; or (c) the claims are made under more than one arbitration agreement, a common question of law or fact arises in both or all of the arbitrations, the rights to relief claimed are in respect of, or arise out of, the same transaction or series of transactions, and the HKIAC finds the arbitration agreements to be compatible. Consolidation can be ordered even if the parties to each arbitration agreement are different.
By virtue of section 101 of the Arbitration Ordinance (Cap.609), for construction arbitration, the parties may apply to the Court for consolidation of arbitrations, whether or not they have adopted the new HKIAC Arbitration Rules which contain the consolidation provisions.
The Practice Note can be viewed in full on the HKIAC’s website.
