Clause 36

Section 2 applies to arbitral proceedings to which the Arbitration Act applies that are commenced on or after the date of commencement of that section, but the parties may in writing agree that that section applies to arbitral proceedings commenced before that date.

Despite subsection (1), where the arbitral proceedings were commenced before the date of commencement of section 2, the law governing the arbitration agreement and the arbitration is the law which would have applied if that section had not been enacted.

For the purposes of subsections (1) and (2), arbitral proceedings are taken as having commenced on the date of the receipt by the respondent of a request for the dispute to be referred to arbitration or, where the parties have agreed in writing that any other date is to be taken as the date of commencement of the arbitral proceedings, then on that date.