Scottish Court of Session Decisions

These were conjoined actions of suspension of a charge on, and reduction of, a decree arbitral. The parties were partners in the working of the Bartonshill Colliery. They dissolved partnership on 28th February 1863, and appointed Mr William Moore, C.E., in Glasgow, as sole arbiter, with full power to dispose of “all disputes and differences that have arisen or may arise betwixt them.” Mr Moore pronounced decree against the pursuer for considerable sums, whereupon this litigation commenced. The grounds of reduction were that the arbiter had exceeded his powers (1) in decerning for a debt claimed by the firm from the pursuer as a third party, while the submission was limited to questions arising betwixt the parties as partners of the firm; (2) in setting aside and disregarding an agreement and docqueted account betwixt the parties; and (3) in disregarding certain invoices rendered by the defender to the pursuer, and debiting the pursuer with much larger quantities of coal than these invoices warranted. The pursuer also alleged that the arbiter had acted corruptly in delegating his duties to the clerk to the submission, in pronouncing judgment without sufficient evidence and otherwise.