Oct. 23, 2009. By Jakob S. Smid, from Switzerland: On Papas Olio JSC v Grains & Fourrages SA and another [2009] EWHC 1257 (see our Issue No. 2/2009).
In its Second Issue of August 2009, Arbitration Watch informed its readers that after having failed to persuade the FOSFA Council to exercise its discretion to allow in an allegedly late‑lodged appeal, Papas appealed to the court where it was equally unsuccessful.
Before the court Papas had argued that its appeal to the FOSFA Board of Appeal was in time since the 28‑day deadline for lodging an appeal had not expired when Papas lodged its notice of appeal on 7th December 2008. The argument before the court turned on whether time ran from FOSFA’s sending of the award to Papas’s former address or only from when Papas later received a copy of the award by fax. The court said that Papas was out of time because the relevant date was the date on which FOSFA sent the award to the address which it had been informed was Papas’s address by the successful claimant and on this basis, Papas’s appeal was time‑barred under the 28‑day deadline of the FOSFA Rules of Arbitration and Appeal.
Papas then made an application for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal to the judge who had already determined that their appeal was out of time. This application was, unsurprisingly, turned down by the judge.
Papas next made an application to a single judge of the Court of Appeal seeking a reversal of the judge’s refusal of leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal.
In a one‑page decision handed down on 5th August 2009, Jacob L.J. granted permission to Papas to appeal to the full Court of Appeal.
The hearing of the appeal is scheduled for a half‑day hearing on either 14th or 15th December 2009.
If, at first, you don’t succeed, try, try again…