TCL Airconditioner (Zhongshan) Co Ltd v The Judges of the Federal Court of Australia [2013] HCA 5: A Case Note

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present the details of a judgement of the High Court in relation to the constitutional validity of recent amendments to federal arbitration legislation in Australia. Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs the approach commonly referred to in the legal literature as a case note. Decision – The High Court concluded that, although the Federal Court is not empowered under the International Arbitration Act 1974 (Cth) to review an arbitral award for error of law, its task in determining the enforceability of arbitral awards is not incompatible with the institutional integrity of the Court, and there is no impermissible delegation of federal judicial power in contravention of the Australian Constitution. Implications – This case establishes that the Federal Courts has jurisdiction to enforce awards resulting from commercial arbitration where the arbitral award is governed by a choice of law agreed between parties to an international arbitration agreement and the award may disclose an error of law