Sino Dragon Trading Ltd v Noble Resources International Pte Ltd

The Federal Court of Australia was presented with an application by Sino Dragon Trading Ltd to set aside an arbitral award made by an arbitral tribunal in Singapore. The award was in favour of Noble Resources International Pte Ltd and arose out of a dispute concerning a contract for the sale of iron ore. Sino Dragon sought to set aside the arbitral award on several grounds, including that the award dealt with a dispute not contemplated by or not falling within the terms of the submission to arbitration, that the parties were not able to present their case due to the mode of providing evidence, and that the arbitrators were not appointed in accordance with the agreement of the parties. The court also considered whether there were justifiable doubts as to the impartiality or independence of the arbitrators and whether setting aside the award would be contrary to public policy.

The court found that Sino Dragon's grounds for setting aside the award lacked conceptual coherence and were not substantiated by the evidence. The court held that the award did deal with the dispute between the parties and fell within the terms of the submission to arbitration. The court also held that the parties were able to present their case through the mode of providing evidence that was agreed upon by the parties and the arbitral tribunal. The court further held that the arbitrators were appointed in accordance with the agreement of the parties and that there were no justifiable doubts as to their impartiality or independence. Finally, the court held that setting aside the award would not be contrary to public policy.

The court dismissed Sino Dragon's originating application and interlocutory application. The court also ordered that Sino Dragon pay Noble Resources' costs of and incidental to these proceedings. The court further ordered that Noble Resources be restrained from taking any further step to enforce the arbitral award for a period of 21 days from the date of the court's orders, subject to further order. The court granted liberty to apply for an order that Noble Resources' costs be paid on an indemnity basis.