• 94. –
  • (1) The provisions of Part I apply to every arbitration under an enactment (a ‘statutory arbitration’), whether the enactment was passed or made before or after the commencement of this Act subject to the adaptations and exclusions specified in sections 95 to 98.
  • (2) The provisions of Part I do not apply to a statutory arbitration if or to the extent that their application –
    • (a) is inconsistent with the provisions of the enactment concerned, with any rules or procedure authorised or recognised by it, or
    • (b) is excluded by any other enactment.
  • (3) In this section and the following provisions of this Part ‘enactment’ –
    • (a) in England and Wales, includes an enactment contained in subordinate legislation within the meaning of the Interpretation Act 1978;
    • (b) in Northern Ireland, means a statutory provision within the meaning of section 1(f) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954.

Statutory arbitrations exist by virtue of various enactments which provide that disputes under them shall be referred to arbitration. Statutory undertakings sometimes provide for disputes to be referred to arbitration (e.g. under the Water Act 1991). Other examples include the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995, which provides inter alia that disputes between landlord and tenant under a farming business tenancy should be resolved by arbitration. The effect of this provision is to put statutory arbitrations on an equal footing with private consensual arbitrations, so far as possible (see sections 95 to 97).