JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
One of the significant features of the Arbitration Act, Cap 49, (the Act) is the principle of party autonomy, which entitles parties to have their dispute resolved by the forum and in the manner of their choice. For that very reason the instances when the court may intervene in arbitral proceedings or interfere with an arbitral award are not at large; they are few and only those specified by the Act.
One such instance when an aggrieved party in arbitral proceedings is allowed to challenge an arbitral award in the High Court is when an arbitral tribunal has exceeded its mandate. By dint of section 35 (2) (a) (iv) of the Act, such excess of jurisdiction arises if the arbitral tribunal deals with a dispute that was not contemplated by the parties, or deals with a dispute that is beyond the terms of the reference to arbitration, or if it decides matters beyond the scope of the reference. The provision, no doubt, to emphasise the principle of party auton-omy, allows the…