Let's see if that is correct. If the adjudicator is put in place by an appointing body, the right to do the job arises out of something called jurisdiction. So, if the work is construction operations in a construction contract in writing after 1 May 1998, not within set exemptions in the act, the referee has this so-called jurisdiction. Further, the referee's job will be set out in second level jurisdiction being the exact questions they are required to decide on. If the referee goes outside general jurisdiction, or answers questions not specifically referred to him, he was not playing the right game, and his decisions are void.
Lawyers say the referee acted ultra vires.
Say he gets the score wrong. Say he acts unfairly by listening to the arguments of one side but not the other. The judges in English and Welsh courts say that if the referee has a right to be there, he has a right to make mistakes. But hang on - one of the senior Scottish judges isn't convinced. Lord Macfayden, as I discussed last week, is hesitant about keeping his hands off decisions unfairly reached or decisions plainly and fundamentally wrong.