NOVEL PROVISIONS OF THE ARBITRATION AND MEDIATION ACT, 2023

Abstract

Arbitration under the Act means Arbitration as regulated by the Arbitration and Mediation Act 2023. The Arbitration and Mediation Act 2023 effectively repealed the Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1988. In Nigeria the first statute to be enacted on arbitration law was the Arbitration Ordinance 1914 modeled based on the English Arbitration Act 1889. It was later re-enacted as the Arbitration Ordinance 1958. This Ordinance was in force until in 1988 when Nigeria adopted the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration and the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958, thereby enacting the Arbitration and Conciliation Decree 1988. This Decree was largely significant as it provided for rules governing international and domestic arbitration and made provisions for conciliation, which was not present in the Arbitration Ordinance of 1958. On the transition from a military regime to a democratic setting, the Arbitration and Conciliation Decree became an Act codified under the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. This 2004 Act has been repealed with the coming into effect of the Arbitration and Mediation Act 2023. In this article, we are going to look at the major innovations introduced by the Arbitration and Mediation Act, 2023.