Arbitration Act 1996, Merkin and Flannery on the
Page 1
Part I
Background to the Arbitration Act 1996
Introduction
Background to the Act
Now almost a quarter of a century old,1 at the time of its implementation the Arbitration Act 1996 was intended to be both a fresh start and the closest thing to a definitive code of arbitration law that had ever been enacted in England.2 It was appropriately described by the late, great Lord (Michael) Mustill as a ‘complete spring clean’ of English arbitration law.3