Arbitration Agreement

An Arbitration Agreement is an agreement between parties involved in a legal relationship to submit the disputes which may arise from their relationship to arbitration.

By using this document, the parties grant jurisdiction to private persons (arbitrators), which means they are waiving their rights to have those conflicts resolved by a court of law. The arbitration agreement precludes judges from resolving any dispute that has been submitted to arbitration. Therefore, if any dispute arises and a party files a lawsuit in court, the other party or parties can have the suit set aside or struck out on the basis that the court lacks jurisdiction.

The individuals running the arbitration are called the arbitrators. The arbitral tribunal is made up of the arbitrators who are independent and impartial persons appointed to resolve disputes. Note that when the parties sign this agreement, they give up their rights to have their disputes resolved by any court of law without going through arbitration.

The following information should be included in this document: the names and addresses of the parties involved; the place and language of the arbitral proceedings; the applicable law or rules; the number of arbitrators that will be present; and the procedure for selecting the arbitrator(s).

How to use this document

This document can be used as a separate agreement or adopted as a clause in contracts like Joint Venture Agreement, Employment Agreement, Non-Disclosure Agreement, Partnership Agreement, Memorandum of Understanding and other agreements.

After completing the document, the parties should sign the document and keep at least one signed copy for their record.

If either of the parties is an individual, the individual should sign the document and have it attested to by a witness who will fill out their name, address, and occupation and append a signature on the space allocated to the witness.

If either of the parties is a company, the common seal of the company should be affixed on the document (on the space allocated for the signature of director and secretary) and either two directors or one director and one secretary should sign the document.

If either of the parties is any organization other than the company, for example, a sole proprietorship or partnership business, the sole proprietor or a partner should sign the document and have it attested to by a witness who will fill out their name, address, occupation and append a signature on the space allocated to the witness.

Applicable laws

The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 2020 applies to all domestic arbitration where parties have not chosen another law to govern their proceeding. In Lagos State, the Lagos State Arbitration Law, 2009 applies to all arbitrations where the parties have not specified another law. Also, depending on the arbitration rules the parties agree to adopt during their arbitral proceedings, the international arbitration laws that Nigeria is a signatory to also apply to this Agreement.

How to modify the template

You fill out a form. The document is created before your eyes as you respond to the questions.

At the end, you receive it in Word and PDF formats. You can modify it and reuse it.