Reform was needed. It came in the 1996 Arbitration Act. Arbitrators now have the power to determine their own jurisdiction. The court has a very limited right to interfere in the arbitration process or to review an award. The court will support the arbitration process by refusing to allow parallel litigation and by enforcing arbitration awards.
Arbitrators have a wide discretion in relation to costs.
Arbitrators have wide discretion to limit the scope of disclosure of documents. The simple objective of the act is to give effect to the contract between the parties in which they agreed to settle disputes by arbitration. It will almost always refuse to allow a party to such a contract to bring court proceedings for a dispute arising from the contract. The courts are also discouraged from interference in the procedural conduct of the arbitration. Also, the grounds on which a substantive award can be challenged are now extremely limited.