Recently I wrote about “in writing” and how adjudicators deal with the issue of “is there a construction contract?”.
Shortly after that blog was posted, I was appointed in a dispute where the responding party challenged my jurisdiction, arguing that there was no construction contract as there was nothing in writing. The referring party denied this, arguing that the contract was “evidenced in writing” because there was a file note that set out the terms of the alleged agreement. Continue reading
The “genuine pre-estimate of loss” test is closely-tied to the liquidated damages clause (also known as LDs or LADs), which is a common feature in construction and engineering contracts. In the wider commercial context, it is part of the test of whether a court will strike down a clause as an unenforceable penalty.
Having been a part of the legal landscape in England, Wales and Scotland for some time, the Scottish Government recently dipped its toe into these previously settled waters and published a consultation on the Penalty Clauses (Scotland) Bill. The Bill has been drafted by the Scottish Law Commission (SLC), in an attempt to address concerns raised in this area of law. Continue reading
The question screams bias to me. Certainly, if the question was the other way around (can a party’s expert subsequently act as an adjudicator on the same dispute), I doubt anyone would think anything other than apparent bias.
But is the answer so black and white? Continue reading
It’s a cloudy, warm and humid Saturday afternoon here in Panama City and I’ve been sitting on the balcony of my apartment gazing out into the Pacific Ocean and drinking a cup of milky coffee. There are about thirty ships in Panama Bay waiting to transit the canal, the Pacific entrance to which is about five miles from here and clearly visible. A dark red container ship is at the front of the queue and is slowly moving up the approach channel. On the far side of the canal entrance there is a huge build-up of clouds and I can see the occasional lightning flash, but the storm is too far away for me to be able to hear any thunder.
The HSE recently released its provisional offshore safety statistics for 2009/10 and the figures may raise some concern in the industry. The number of fatalities has risen (after a good year in 2008/9). In addition, the combined fatal and major injury rate rose for the first time since 2001/2. The numbers don’t look good, but what are the underlying issues for health and safety regulation in oil and gas, and for construction? Continue reading
