A comparative study of law and practice of arbitration in Kenya, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, with particular reference to current problems in Kenya

• Main Author: Torgbor, Edward Nii Adja
• Other Authors: Roebuck, D.
• Format: Others
• Language: en_ZA
• Published: Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University 2013
• Subjects: Arbitration and award > Kenya; Arbitration and award > Nigeria; Arbitration and award > Zimbabwe; Dispute resolution (Law); Comparative law; Dissertations > Law; Theses > Law; Mercantile Law
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/80182

Thesis (LLD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. === Bibliography === ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Arbitration as a mode of dispute settlement has been growing steadily all over the world. The momentum for commercial arbitration in particular was provided by the 1985 UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (“the Model Law”). Legislation based on the Model Law has been enacted in many countries. The arbitration laws of three of these countries, Kenya, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, are selected for consideration in this dissertation because of their common origins, similar statutes, similar problems, shared experiences, and their regional distribution. As the writer’s arbitration practice is based in Kenya, that jurisdiction is the primary, albeit not the only, source and foundation for this work, the focal point of reference and the citations from the law and practice incorporated in this research. The work consists of three chapters. Chapter one is a brief introduction and an overview of arbitration. This is followed by the statement of the research question, the justification for the research, methodology and the structure and content of the dissertation. Chapter two describes the legal and contextual framework for the investigation of the research questions in the selected jurisdictions of Kenya, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. Customary Law arbitration is included as a significant feature of African arbitration law. The UNCITRAL Model Law, the Arbitration Act, 1995 (Kenya), the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1988 (Nigeria), the Arbitration Act, 1996 (Zimbabwe), the Arbitration Act, 1996 (England), and the South African Draft Arbitration Bill are all used as legislative or statutory points of reference in the discussion of the research questions. Chapter 3 contains the main focus of the dissertation in which six recurrent arbitration problems in Kenya are discussed in the context of domestic arbitration. The research investigates (i) the illusiveness of consent as the basis for consensual arbitration (ii) jurisdictional challenges (iii) the procedural powers of the arbitral tribunal (iv) the disruptive effect of adjournments and postponements on the arbitral process (v) constraints on the granting of interim relief and (vi) the enforcement of the arbitral award. Original, creative and innovative proposals in response to these problems include: the express legislative recognition of the manifestation of consent in both the verbal and written forms of the arbitration agreement, the use of the constructive dispute resolution technique, statutory recognition of customary law arbitration, the use of an expedited arbitration procedure, the award of exemplary and punitive damages in arbitration, a code of sanctions to facilitate the arbitration process, and a simplified method of enforcement and execution of the arbitral award. The dissertation concludes with reflections on the future of arbitration in Africa, and the need for modernization and harmonization of arbitration laws for peaceful resolution of disputes and serious conflicts across Africa. The aim of this study is best illustrated by a short story: In the early nineties there was a man, untrained in any known discipline, who strutted court corridors, trade centres and market places, carrying a placard advertising himself to lawyers, traders and marketers as “An Arbitrator and Private Judge”. He attracted business, charged a handsome percentage fee on the value of the claim, was duly paid, until officialdom caught up with him and put paid to his burgeoning career as “Arbitrator-Judge”. But the reckless enthusiasm spawned by his wit and imagination, and the idiosyncratic practices in dispute resolution persisted and are manifest in Kenyan arbitration culture today. The need to remove bad practices, avoidable impediments, and inefficiency in the arbitration culture of Kenya in order to make its procedures and processes more efficacious, is the heart of this study. === AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Arbitrasie as ‘n wyse van geskilbeslegting is wêreldwyd aan die toeneem. Die 1985 UNCITRAL Modelwetgewing insake Internasionale Kommersiële Arbitrasie het die momentum hiervoor gebied. Talle lande het vervolgens gereageer deur wetgewing geskoei op hierdie model te promulgeer. Die arbitrasiereg van drie lande, tewete Kenia, Nigerië en Zimbabwe, is vir doeleindes van hierdie proefskrif gekies op die basis van gemeenskaplike geskiedenis, soortgelyke wetgewing, soortgelyke probleme, gedeelde ervaringe en regionale verspreiding. Aangesien die skrywer se arbitrasie-praktyk in Kenia gebaseer is, word hierdie jurisdiksie as die primêre, alhoewel nie die enigste, bron en basis vir die navorsing gebruik. Die werk beslaan drie hoofstukke. Hoofstuk een verskaf ‘n kort inleiding tot en oorsig van die reg rakende arbitrasie. Dit word gevolg deur die navorsingsvraag, die rasionaal vir die navorsing, metodiek en die struktuur en inhoud van die proefskrif. Hoofstuk twee bied die regs- en kontekstuele raamwerk vir die ondersoek in die gekose jurisdiksies, nl. Kenia, Nigerië en Zimbabwe. ‘n Bespreking van gewoonteregtelike arbitrasie word ingesluit, aangesien dit ‘n belangrike deel van Arbitrasiereg in Afrika uitmaak. Die UNCITRAL Modelwetgewing, die Wet op Arbitrasie 1995 (Kenia), die Wet op Abitrasie en Konsiliasie 1988 (Nigerië), die Wet op Arbitrasie 1996 (Zimbabwe), die Wet op Arbitrasie 1996 (Engeland) en die Suid-Afrikaanse Konsepwet op Arbitrasie word gebruik as die statutêre basis vir die bespreking van die navorsingsvrae. Hoofstuk 3 handel met die hooffokus van die proefskrif. Ses probleme wat telkemale opduik in die konteks van plaaslike arbitrasies in Kenia, en wat as die navorsingsvrae geïdentifiseer is, word vervolgens bespreek. Hierdie probleme is (i) die ontwykendheid van toestemming as basis vir arbitrasie deur ooreenkoms; (ii) jurisdiksionêre uitdagings; (iii) die proseduele magte van ‘n arbitrasie tribunaal; (iv) die onderbrekende effek van verdagings en uitstelle van arbitrasie-verhore; (v) beperkinge op die verlening van tussentydse regshulp, en (vi) afdwinging en uitvoering van die arbitrasie-toekenning. Oorspronklike, kreatiewe en innoverende voorstelle as antwoord op hierdie probleme sluit in: die uitdruklike statutêre erkenning van toestemming tot arbitrasie in beide mondelinge en geskrewe vorms; die gebruik van konstruktiewe dispuutoplossingstegnieke; statutêre erkenning van gewoonteregtelike arbitrasies; die gebruik van ‘n versnelde arbitrasie-prosedure; die verlening van skadevergoeding in die vorm van ‘n strafbedrag; ‘n kode van sanksies om die arbitrasie proses te fasiliteer; en ‘n vereenvoudigde wyse waarop arbitrasie-toekennings afgedwing en uitgevoer kan word. Die proefskrif sluit af deur die toekoms van arbitrasie in Afrika te bespreek, asook die behoefte aan modernisering en harmonisering van arbitrasiereg ten einde geskille dwarsoor Afrika op ‘n vreedsame wyse te kan besleg.