Extensions of time to respond

Question

Is an extension of time to file a response something that is available in the case of a petition to confirm arbitration award?

Answer 1

Arbitration

Arbitration is an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) method where the p[arties voluntarily submit to the binding decision (award) of the arbitrator(s). It gets its legal effectiveness by being legislated in the relevant jurisdiction. Most jurisdictions have different laws for international, domestic commercial, and other (e.g. family law) arbitrations. Notwithstanding, there is a great deal of commonality across types and jurisdictions.

Extension of time for making submissions

How an arbitration is conducted is by the agreement of the parties, or, if the parties can't agree, at the discretion of the arbitrator(s). Often, the parties will agree on rules that will be followed in their arbitration clause.

So, if you are asking if a party can be given an extension of time to make a submission, then yes - if all parties agree, the rules allow it, or the arbitrator(s) agree.

Enforcement

In most cases, arbitral awards are voluntarily complied with. It is estimated that in international arbitrations, only 11% of awards are not voluntarily complied with, and most of those stem from an inability to pay rather than an unwillingness to pay.

Failing to honour an arbitral award is a breach of contract, and the successful party can sue for recovery like any other breach. The law of arbitration is that an award is binding, and the courts will simply enforce the award as a judgement debt. Like any breach, there may be a statute of limitations beyond which action can no longer be taken without the court agreeing to waive those limits.

Challanging an award

There are very limited grounds and strict timeframes for challenging an arbitral award. While courts have the discretion to extend those timeframes (because they're courts), they very rarely (approaching never) do so for arbitral awards.