On 29 January 2025, the Arbitration Bill 2025 had its second reading in Parliament as the government prepares to update the arbitration legislative framework. The aim of the Arbitration Bill is to modernise the Arbitration Act 1996 and ensure the UK maintains its position as a global centre of dispute resolution. 

The progress of the Arbitration Bill will be welcomed by those who have been following the review of the legislation over the last few years. The extensive consultation and work carried out by the Law Commission resulted in a detailed report in September 2023 which included recommendations for reform on areas including the law governing arbitration agreements, arbitrators' immunity, the power of the courts to support arbitration proceedings, and introducing powers for arbitrators to dismiss claims lacking in legal merit. Following the 2024 General Election and the prorogation of Parliament, the Arbitration Bill fell in the wash-up but has been re-introduced by the government. 

In our previous post here we summarised the proposed amendments to the arbitration framework. The significant changes for arbitration practitioners include:

• Clarification of an arbitrator’s duty of disclosure concerning impartiality 
• Amending the provisions for arbitrator immunity around resignation and applications for removal
• Permitting the power of summary disposal where a party has no real prospect of succeeding 
• An updated framework for jurisdiction challenges under section 67
• A new rule on the governing law of an arbitration agreement
• Amendments to the court powers in support of arbitral proceedings and emergency arbitrators

While the Law Commission recognised that the Arbitration Act 1996 fundamentally worked well and that wholesale reform was “not needed or wanted”, these changes are welcome and address some important issues that have arisen in recent cases, such as the Supreme Court decisions Enka v Chubb and Halliburton. It is not known yet when any legislative changes will come into force but the Government support for the Bill is a positive move for modernising the UK arbitral framework.