Limit of adjudicator’s power to make changes to his or her decision.
I’ve been involved in adjudication since its inception, at the start both preparing adjudication Referrals and Responses and latterly acting as an Adjudicator. Below are some of my thoughts on adjudication.
The recent case of McLaughlin & Harvey Ltd v LJJ Ltd EWHC 1032 (TCC) confirmed that any attempts by an adjudicator to revise or revisit a decision must be strictly confined to correcting true clerical errors and not to make any substantive changes.
It also confirmed that such corrections are limited to mistakes in expressing or calculating something already contained in the decision.- not errors in reasoning or intention. The court also distinguished between a true clerical error and an attempt to correct an omission or address a substantive issue raised after the decision.Commentators stated that the court’s decision reinforces the principle fo finality in adjudication. And the parties should not view an adjudicator’s decision as merely a starting point for further rounds of submissions and revisions.
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