ONE AMERIN RESIDENCE Sdn Bhd

On the court record

A developer whose matters study PAM-contract arbitration: the effect of a Final Certificate, the process-only grounds for setting aside an award, and the immunity of the arbitral institution.

ONE AMERIN RESIDENCE Sdn Bhd appears in the corpus in construction-arbitration matters and a connected international-immunity dispute, and its appearances centre on the enforcement and setting aside of arbitral awards under a PAM contract. In a High Court matter the court considered whether Clause 30.10 of the PAM Contract 2006 required compliance for dispute resolution, whether a Final Certificate issued under Clause 30.10(a) was enforceable despite the counterparty's dispute, and whether the court had jurisdiction to hear the company's originating summons notwithstanding the arbitration agreement in Clause 34.5. In a Court of Appeal matter the company litigated an application to set aside an arbitral award under sections 37 and 42 of the Arbitration Act 2005, the court reiterating that a setting-aside application can enquire only into the decision-making process of the arbitrator and not the decision itself, and addressing res judicata, natural justice and the public-policy ground under section 37(1)(b)(ii).

In a Federal Court matter connected to the arbitration, the court addressed the extent of the immunity enjoyed by the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) as an international organisation under the International Organizations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1992, and whether that immunity applied in judicial-review proceedings relating to the AIAC's domestic and statutory functions under construction-payment legislation.

For a reader, the cluster is a focused study of PAM-contract arbitration: the effect of a Final Certificate and the compliance required by the dispute-resolution clause, the narrow process-only grounds for setting aside an award, and the immunity of the arbitral institution. The company and corporate parties are named as they appear on the record; any individuals are referred to by their procedural role only. The developer's matters are a focused study of PAM-contract arbitration and its supervision, and the recurring principle is the court's deference to the arbitral process: a Final Certificate takes effect according to the contract's dispute-resolution clause, an award is disturbed only for a defect in the decision-making process rather than the decision itself, and even the arbitral institution enjoys a measure of immunity in the discharge of its statutory functions.