CBI Constructors Pty Ltd & Anor v Chevron Australia Pty Ltd

The parties to this proceeding before the High Court of Australia were CBI Constructors Pty Ltd and Kent Projects Pty Ltd (applicants) and Chevron Australia Pty Ltd (respondent). The dispute concerned the scope of curial intervention in arbitral awards, specifically whether an arbitral tribunal retained jurisdiction to determine certain claims after issuing an interim award. The applicants sought special leave to appeal a decision of the Court of Appeal.

The legal issues before the High Court included whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that the arbitral tribunal lacked jurisdiction to consider the "contract criteria case" in a second interim award hearing. This involved determining whether the tribunal's previous interim award constituted a final determination of all liability issues, thereby rendering the tribunal *functus officio* in relation to those issues. A related question was whether the court could review the tribunal's interpretation of its own procedural orders when assessing the scope of the submission to arbitration.

The applicants argued that the tribunal's interpretation of its own procedural orders and its conclusion that no prior final determination of all issues had been made were matters within its jurisdiction. They contended that the Court of Appeal incorrectly treated the tribunal's finding on the effect of its prior orders as a jurisdictional error, despite a concession that errors regarding preclusionary rules like estoppel would not affect a tribunal's jurisdictional authority. The applicants submitted that the Court of Appeal's approach created an "intolerable situation" where facts could be considered true for one purpose and false for another, particularly concerning the doctrine of *functus officio*. The respondent countered that the Court of Appeal correctly identified a jurisdictional question, as the tribunal's decision to reopen an issue of liability after issuing a final award on that matter fell outside the scope of the arbitration agreement under section 34(2)(a)(iii) of the relevant Act.