Jurisdiction: declaratory relief

In HC Trading Malta Ltd v Tradeland Commodities SL [2016] EWHC 1279 (Comm) HHJ Waksman QC considered whether it was appropriate to grant a declaration confirming the existence of an arbitration clause. Unsurprisingly, the court ruled that a party who wished to ascertain whether there was a valid arbitration clause was required to submit that question to the arbitrators and not to the court.

Tradeland : the facts