A.J Brenton v Jack Palmer HT00-436 19-01-2001

A.J Brenton v Jack Palmer HT00-436 19-01-2001

A. J. Brenton was seeking to enforce the decision of an adjudicator by way of summary judgment.

There was some doubt as to whether the contract was with Mr Jack Palmer or with his company, and this issue had been referred to the adjudicator.

Mr. Palmer submitted that the adjudicator had no jurisdiction to make his award, because the true party to the relevant contract was Lords of Princetown Limited, the company, rather than Mr Palmer himself. The adjudication was between up A. J. Brenton and Mr Palmer. That issue was raised before the adjudicator, and he decided as a question of fact that the contracting party was Mr Palmer and not Lord of Princetown Limited, and he that ordered Mr Palmer to pay Brenton the sum of approximately GBP 26,000 within 14 days, plus fees, in so far as the fees had been paid by A.J. Brenton to the adjudicator.

The judge concluded that the finding of fact by the adjudicator was one that he was charged to make, and that he had not erred in law in reaching a conclusion that he had jurisdiction, having regard to that finding. Therefore the judge refused to interfere with the decision of the adjudicator.

It appears central to this case, although not clear from the judgment, that the issue of the adjudicator’s jurisdiction had been submitted to the adjudicator for his decision by the parties, that the adjudicator had considered the matter and had made his decision. In short, it appears that the parties had submitted to the jurisdiction of the adjudicator to decide his own jurisdiction.

 A.J Brenton v Jack Palmer HT00-436 19-01-2001