s 21 Separability of arbitration clause and competence of arbitral tribunal to rule on its own jurisdiction
21.—(1) The arbitral tribunal may rule on its own jurisdiction, including a plea that it has no jurisdiction and any objections to the existence or validity of the arbitration agreement, at any stage of the arbitral proceedings.[12/2012] (2) For the purpose of subsection (1), an arbitration clause which forms part of a contract is to be treated as an agreement independent of the other terms of the contract. (3) A decision by the arbitral tribunal that the contract is void does not entail ipso jure (as a matter of law) the invalidity of the arbitration clause. (4) A plea that the arbitral tribunal does not have jurisdiction must be raised not later than the submission of the statement of defence. (5) A party is not precluded from raising the plea that the arbitral tribunal does not have jurisdiction by the fact that the party has appointed, or participated in the appointment of, an arbitrator. (6) A plea that the arbitral tribunal is exceeding the scope of its authority must be raised as soon as the matter alleged to be beyond the scope of its authority is raised during the arbitral proceedings.[12/2012] (7) Despite any delay in raising a plea mentioned in subsection (4) or (6), the arbitral tribunal may admit the plea if it considers the delay to be justified in the circumstances. (8) The arbitral tribunal may rule on a plea mentioned in this section either as a preliminary question or in an award on the merits. (9) If the arbitral tribunal rules —(a) on a plea as a preliminary question that it has jurisdiction; or (b) on a plea at any stage of the arbitral proceedings that it has no jurisdiction, any party may, within 30 days after having received notice of that ruling, apply to the Court to decide the matter. [12/2012]