Arbitration in Ireland, both domestic and international, is governed

by the Arbitration Act 2010 (the “2010 Act”), which adopts in whole the

UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (the

“Model Law”) including the revisions introduced in 2006. Therefore, as

the designated court with a supervisory role in respect of arbitration

matters, the Irish High Court has power to make provisional orders in

support of arbitral proceedings pursuant to Articles 9 and 17 J of the

Model Law.

 

In this regard, Article 9 of the Model Law provides that “[i]t is not

incompatible with an arbitration agreement for a party to request, before

or during arbitral proceedings, from a court an interim measure of

protection and for a court to grant such measure”. Article 17 J of the

Model Law provides that “[a] court shall have the same power of issuing

an interim measure in relation to arbitration proceedings, irrespective of

whether their place is in the territory of this State, as it has in relation to

proceedings in courts. The court shall exercise such power in accordance

with its own procedures in consideration of the specific features of

international arbitration”.

 

Furthermore, Section 10 of the 2010 Act reaffirms the provisions of

the Model Law and provides that the Irish High Court shall have the

same powers in relation to Article 9 of the Model Law as it does in any

other action before it.

 

For a full description of the use of interlocutory injunctions in

support of arbitral proceedings in Ireland, see: Mansfield, Arbitration Act