Stay of Legal Proceedings Pending Arbitration in Kenya: Judicial Interpretation and a Call for Legislative Change

Abstract

The deviation from the prescribed procedure in Section 10 of the Arbitration Act, 1995 has caused unnecessary intervention by Courts in matters within the purview of arbitration. Legal elucidation of Section 6 (1) seems to clash with the principle of party autonomy causing an upsurge of arbitration disputes in courts. This study seeks to critique the law as stipulated in Section 6 of the Arbitration Act, 1995. This provision gives party’s leeway to delay arbitration matters through unnecessary court intervention which goes against the principle of non-intervention as stipulated under the Arbitration Act, 1995. The study seeks to give credence to Arbitration as a mode of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in Kenya by ensuring that the judicial process is not initiated as a basis of undermining arbitral proceedings; by proposing specific amendments to that effect and to bring the Arbitration Act, 1995 in conformity with the Constitution of Kenya, 2010.