# Arbitration Act 1979 (repealed 31.1.1997), Section 2: Determination of preliminary point of law by court.

Extent: E+W

(1) Subject to subsection (2) and section 3 below, on an application to the High Court made by any of the parties to a reference—
(a) with the consent of an arbitrator who has entered on the reference or, if an umpire has entered on the reference, with his consent, or
(b) with the consent of all the other parties,
the High Court shall have jurisdiction to determine any question of law arising in the course of the reference.
(2) The High Court shall not entertain an application under subsection (1)(a) above with respect to any question of law unless it is satisfied that—
(a) the determination of the application might produce substantial savings in costs to the parties; and
(b) the question of law is one in respect of which leave to appeal would be likely to be given under section 1(3)(b) above.
(2A) Unless the High Court gives leave, no appeal shall lie to the Court of Appeal from a decision of the High Court to entertain or not to entertain an application under subsection (1)(a) above.
(3) A decision of the High Court under subsection (1) above shall be deemed to be a judgment of the court within the meaning of section 16 of the Supreme Court Act 1981 (appeals to the Court of Appeal), but no appeal shall lie from such a decision unless—
(a) the High Court or the Court of Appeal gives leave; and
(b) it is certified by the High Court that the question of law to which its decision relates either is one of general public importance or is one which for some other special reason should be considered by the Court of Appeal.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/42/section/2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/arbitration-act-1979-repealed-3111997/section-2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.