NTT Limited & Ors v Jason Goodall
[2024] EWHC 445 (Comm)
Chaim Saul Grosskopf v Yechiel Grosskopf & Anor
16 February 2024
[2024] EWHC 291 (Ch)
High Court
A family is fighting over a trust. They already agreed to settle disputes through religious arbitration. One family member tried to go to a regular court instead, but the court said the arbitration agreement covers this dispute, even though the religious court can't do *everything* a regular court can. So, the regular court case is paused, and the family has to go back to religious arbitration.
Key Facts
- •The claimant, Chaim Grosskopf, and the defendants, Yechiel and Jacob Grosskopf (trustees), are beneficiaries of the M Grosskopf 1974 Settlement Trust.
- •The claimant alleges breaches of trust by the defendants, including undervaluing asset sales, disadvantageous lending, and excessive remuneration.
- •The parties previously entered into an arbitration agreement before a Beth Din (religious court).
- •The claimant seeks the appointment of a judicial trustee, a remedy unavailable in the arbitration.
- •The defendants applied for a stay of the claim under section 9 of the Arbitration Act 1996 or to strike it out as an abuse of process.
Legal Principles
Section 9 of the Arbitration Act 1996 mandates a stay of legal proceedings if the matter is subject to an arbitration agreement, unless the agreement is null and void, inoperative, or incapable of performance.
Arbitration Act 1996, section 9
The court adopts a pro-arbitration approach, interpreting arbitration agreements liberally to respect party autonomy.
Republic of Mozambique v Privinvest Shipbuilding SAL (Holding) [2023] UKSC 32
A judicial trustee will be appointed only if there's a breakdown in trust administration or grounds of complaint against existing trustees.
Judicial Trustees Act 1896, section 1(1); Lewin on Trusts (20th ed) para 18-002
Issue estoppel applies to issues determined in arbitration proceedings.
Emirates Trading Agency LLC v Sociedade de Fomento Industrial Private Ltd [2015] EWHC 1452 (Comm); Fidelitas Shipping Ltd v V/O Exportchleb [1966] QB 630
An arbitrator's inability to grant all court remedies doesn't render a dispute inarbitrable if the core issues are arbitrable.
Rhinehart v Welker [2012] NSWCA 95; FamilyMart China Holding Co Ltd v Ting Chaun (Cayman Islands) Holding Corporation [2023] UKPC 33
A claimant seeking a remedy unavailable in arbitration doesn't prevent a stay under section 9; the remedy's non-availability is a consequence of the chosen arbitration system.
Société Commerciale de Reassurance v Eras (International) [1992] 1 Ll Rep 570
Outcomes
The defendants' application for a stay of the claim was granted.
The matters in issue in the claim fall within the scope of the existing arbitration agreement. The court found that the claimant was estopped from arguing otherwise, given previous rulings and the broad scope of the arbitration agreement. The fact that the arbitration tribunal cannot appoint a judicial trustee does not render the dispute inarbitrable; the tribunal could make orders with a similar effect.
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