Section 2A

In this Act, “arbitration agreement” means an agreement by the parties to submit to arbitration all or certain disputes which have arisen or which may arise between them in respect of a defined legal relationship, whether contractual or not.

An arbitration agreement may be in the form of an arbitration clause in a contract or in the form of a separate agreement.

An arbitration agreement must be in writing.

An arbitration agreement is in writing if its content is recorded in any form, whether or not the arbitration agreement or contract has been concluded orally, by conduct or by other means.

The requirement that an arbitration agreement must be in writing is satisfied by an electronic communication if the information contained in the electronic communication is accessible so as to be useable for subsequent reference.

Where in any arbitral or legal proceedings, a party asserts the existence of an arbitration agreement in a pleading, statement of case or any other document in circumstances in which the assertion calls for a reply and the assertion is not denied, there is deemed to be an effective arbitration agreement as between the parties to the proceedings.

A reference in a contract to any document containing an arbitration clause is to constitute an arbitration agreement in writing if the reference is such as to make that clause part of the contract.

A reference in a bill of lading to a charterparty or other document containing an arbitration clause is to constitute an arbitration agreement in writing if the reference is such as to make that clause part of the bill of lading.

Article 7 of the Model Law does not apply to this section.

In this section —

“data message” means information generated, sent, received or stored by electronic, magnetic, optical or similar means, including, but not limited to, electronic data interchange (EDI), electronic mail, telegram, telex or telecopy;

“electronic communication” means any communication that the parties make by means of data messages.