Report No. 76

8.54. No guidance available in Notes on clauses.-

The notes on clauses to the Bill which led to the Act of 1940 merely state that clause 37 makes provisions as to limitation in arbitration matters and follows closely section 16 of the (English) Arbitration Act, 1934. Section 16(7) of the English Act of 1934 gave power to the court to order that the period between the commencement of the arbitration and the date of the order of the court shall be excluded etc. (where the court ordered that the award be set aside or that the arbitration agreement should cease to have effect etc.).

The present section 27(5) of the (English) Limitation Act, 1939, is, in substance, the same as section 16(7) of the Arbitration Act of 1934. The Select Committee reporting on the Bill omitted the words that left the power to the court, as it felt that a mere order of the court would not affect the law of limitation. There is, however, no discussion as to why the analogy of section 14, Limitation Act was not fully adopted.