Askew v Fields

In *Askew v Fields*, the parties were the plaintiff, Askew, and the defendant, Fields. The dispute concerned an application to set aside or remit an arbitration award made by an arbitrator. The matter came before the High Court of Australia.

The central legal issues before the court were whether the arbitrator's award, which contained no findings or calculations, provided grounds to set aside or remit the award under section 12 of the *Arbitration Act 1902* (N.S.W.). Specifically, the court considered whether the publication of findings or calculations by the arbitrator would reveal an error of law on the face of the award.

The High Court held that the absence of findings or calculations in an award did not, in itself, constitute grounds for setting aside or remitting the award. The court reasoned that for an error of law to be apparent on the face of the award, the award itself must contain the error, or it must be so expressed that the reasoning of the arbitrator can be seen to be erroneous. Merely lacking detailed findings or calculations does not equate to an error of law. The court affirmed that the purpose of section 12 was to allow for the correction of demonstrable legal errors, not to compel an arbitrator to provide a detailed exposition of their reasoning process.

The High Court dismissed the appeal, upholding the arbitrator's award.