English Commercial Court upholds jurisdictional challenge to arbitral award in part and sets aside arbitral award partially

8 April 2026

In the recent case of Republic of Korea v Elliott Associates, LP [2026] EWHC 368, the English Commercial Court partially upheld a jurisdictional challenge to an arbitral award under section 67 of the UK Arbitration Act. This decision follows the judgment of the English Court of Appeal in Republic of Korea v Elliott Associates, LP [2025] EWCA Civ 905 which overturned the earlier decision of the Commercial Court in Republic of Korea v Elliott Associates, LP [2024] EWHC 2037 (Comm) that Article 11.1 (the “Scope and Coverage” clause) in Chapter 11 of the USA - Korea Free Trade Agreement (“Treaty”) did not contain jurisdictional requirements. The Court of Appeal remitted the case back to the Commercial Court to be decided on the merits.

This article discusses the three decisions mentioned above, including the English Court of Appeal’s interpretation of the “Scope and Coverage” clause in the Treaty and the approach adopted by the Singapore International Commercial Court in this regard.

To read the article, click here.