‘I could never put anything into a picture that wasn’t actually there in front of me. That would be a pointless lie, a mere bit of artfulness.” That of course is a quote from Lucian Freud, but it prompts empathy for the work of adjudicators – because just when the grounds on which to challenge adjudicators’ decisions have been almost eliminated by the courts, a new strand in this jurisprudence emerges. A new case has popped up that now adds to the possible ways that one could argue for a breach of natural justice having occurred during an adjudication.

The new case is Vinci Construction UK Ltd vs Beumer Group UK Ltd [2018] EWHC 1874 (TCC), a decision handed down on 24 July 2018. It is noteworthy because it will encourage those involved in multi-party serial adjudications to seek disclosure of related decisions in the hope that such an exercise will show a party is taking wholly inconsistent positions in different adjudications. Further opportunity lies in the fact that if such a request for disclosure is denied by the adjudicator, then the requesting party may also be able to run a “breach of natural justice” argument, should it be needed at enforcement proceedings.  

It is well understood that aggrieved losing parties can and should comply with the adjudicator’s decision, as long as that decision was made by an adjudicator with jurisdiction over the dispute who has conducted the adjudication fairly and in accordance with the rules of natural justice. It is also well understood that failures or breaches have to be serious or material.

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