It was held in this case that Mr O did not have the relevant authority. However, although service by email was acceptable, it was necessary that the person receiving the documents had the appropriate authority to accept such documents. The Judge found that Conqueror were entitled to issue proceedings by email in accordance with the Arbitration Act. No response was given to any of the above and the Arbitrator found in favour of Conqueror.Ĭonqueror subsequently brought court proceedings to enforce the Arbitrator’s decision. These include: notice to appoint arbitrator claim submissions order for service of defence communications from the arbitrator a final order for defence submissions service of a costs schedule and communication from the tribunal that he was proceeding to his award. Numerous emails were then issued to Glencore – all to Mr O’s email address – in relation to the arbitration proceedings. The ship was delayed for 9 days and Conqueror claimed damages for this period.Ĭonqueror sent a letter before action to Mr O’s email address and which they received Mr O’s out of office.Ī subsequent letter was issued setting out the claim and inviting Glencore to agree to the appointment of a sole arbitrator if it intended to dispute the claim. Mr O subsequently sent two further emails on that same day stating that he would keep Conqueror up to date on the delegation, and that Conqueror should not do anything else until instructed otherwise. Prior to the ship loading the cargo in Ukraine, Mr “O” of Glencore requested that Conqueror hold off from berthing until the Egyptian delegate arrived. Case DetailsĬonqueror Holdings Limited (“Conqueror”) contracted out their ship to Glencore Grain B V (“Glencore”) to carry grain from Ukraine to Egypt. It will rarely be sufficient to send adjudication notices or referral notices to the individual that have been dealing with the Project on a commercial day-to-day basis, as it is unlikely that this individual will have the necessary authority to accept service of the documents. Where a contract permits the parties to serve documents by email, particular care needs to be taken as to who the documents are sent to. In Glencore Agriculture B.V., (formerly Glencore Grain B.V) v Conqueror Holdings Limited it was held that, where a contract permits documents (such as adjudication notices) to be served by email, the individual receiving the email needs to have the appropriate level of authority to accept such documents.
9th February 2018 Sent but not served – the pitfalls of serving documents by email Summary
0 kommentar(er)
