Practical Law

Aspect v Higgins is the first case relating to adjudication or the Scheme for Construction Contracts 1998 to reach the Supreme Court. Indeed, so far as I am aware, it is the first case to reach the highest court since the House of Lords decided Melville Dundas v Wimpey in 2007. Accordingly, adjudication practitioners have been … Continue reading Aspect v Higgins: a practitioner’s view →

Court of Session decides that to enforce adjudicator’s decision would be a breach of Human Rights. Whyte and Mackay v Blyth & Blyth is the second decision in a long-running dispute over a whisky bottling facility. Readers may recall Lord Malcolm’s initial, somewhat surprising decision, which I blogged about last May.

The law regarding the enforcement of adjudication decisions has been relatively settled for some time. Regular readers of the PLC blogs will be familiar with the basic concepts. Time and time again decisions from the courts have confirmed that, so long as an adjudicator asks himself the correct questions, acts within his jurisdiction and manages … Continue reading Can a party counterclaim against adjudication enforcement? →

An adjudicator cannot determine a dispute which is the same, or substantially the same, as one which has been decided in a previous adjudication. When faced with such a claim, an adjudicator should resign. If he issues a decision, the decision will be unenforceable, as he had no jurisdiction to issue it. It is a matter of fact … Continue reading Adjudication: when is a decision not a decision? →

Adjudication has contributed much to the construction industry since it was introduced by the Construction Act 1996. On the whole, disputes are resolved more quickly (if not more fairly) and, after some initial scepticism, the industry as a whole has come to accept, if not love, this “new” form of dispute resolution. It is perhaps a … Continue reading City Inn v Shepherd Construction: what does it mean for extension of time claims? →