Hong Kong Ordinances

ARBITRATION ORDINANCE - SECT 23B

Exclusion agreements affecting rights under sections 23 and 23A

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section and section  23C -

   (a)  the Court shall not, under section 23(3)(b), grant leave to appeal
        with respect to a question of law arising out of an award; and

   (b)  the Court shall not, under section 23(5)(b), grant leave to make an
        application with respect to an award; and

   (c)  no application may be made under section 23A(1)(a) with respect to a
        question of law, if the parties to the reference in question have
        entered into an agreement
in writing (in this section referred to as an "exclusion agreement") which
excludes the right of appeal under section 23 in relation to that award or, in
a case falling within paragraph (c), in relation to an award to which the
determination of the question of law is material.

(2) If the parties to an exclusion agreement subsequently enter into an
agreement in writing to revoke the exclusion agreement the provisions of
subsection (1) shall cease to apply to the reference or references in question
until such time as a further exclusion agreement is entered into by the
parties.

(3) An exclusion agreement may be expressed so as to relate to a particular
award, to awards under a particular reference or to any other description of
awards, whether arising out of the same reference or not; and an agreement may
be an exclusion agreement for the purposes of this section whether it is
entered into before or after the passing of this Ordinance and whether or not
it forms part of an arbitration agreement.

(4) (Repealed 64 of 1989 s. 16)

(5) Except as provided by subsection (1), sections 23 and 23A shall have
effect notwithstanding anything in any agreement purporting-

   (a)  to prohibit or restrict access to the Court; or

   (b)  to restrict the jurisdiction of that Court; or

   (c)  to prohibit or restrict the making of a reasoned award.

(6) An exclusion agreement shall be of no effect in relation to an award made
on, or a question of law arising in the course of a reference under, a
statutory arbitration, that is to say, such an arbitration as is referred to
in section 2AB. (Amended 80 of 1997 s. 102)

(7) An exclusion agreement shall be of no effect in relation to an award made
on, or a question of law arising in the course of a reference under, an
arbitration agreement unless the exclusion agreement is entered into after the
commencement of the arbitration in which the award is made or, as the case may
be, in which the question of law arises. (Amended 64 of 1989 s. 16)

(8) (Repealed 64 of 1989 s. 16) (Added 10 of 1982 s. 10) [cf. 1979 c. 42 s. 3
U.K.]