Death of a party to an Arbitration Agreement
I was appointed as administrator of my father’s estate. He was a prominent businessman who also had many disputes with his business associates. Unfortunately, there is a new case against him that has been instituted in Court. The dispute stems from a contract for delivery of goods which also contained an arbitration clause. My concern is shall we proceed with this dispute in Court because my father is now dead or should we refer it to arbitration as previously agreed in the Contract? Please guide me.
ML, Dar es Salaam
We are sorry to hear about your loss. Matters concerning arbitration in Tanzania are governed by the Arbitration Act [CAP. 15 R.E. 2020] (the Arbitration Act). According to section 13 of the Arbitration Act, unless otherwise agreed by the parties, an arbitration agreement is not discharged by the death of a party and may be enforced by or against the personal representative of that party. However, this shall not affect the operation of any enactment or rule of law by virtue of which a substantive right or obligation is extinguished by death.
Death does not discharge the arbitration agreement, and the law requires that the dispute is resolved by arbitration as agreed by the parties. We have not reviewed the contract you mentioned, so we cannot comment whether the parties had agreed otherwise. Your lawyer can guide you further.