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will be no appeal from lower court rulings, they should be free | | to do so. |
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| | | 5. Section 4(c) includes those provisions such as those that | | involve the judicial process, the waivability of the RUAA, the | | effective date of the RUAA, or the inherent rights of an | | arbitrator. The provisions in Section 4(c) should not be | | within the control of the parties either before or after the | | arbitration dispute arises. |
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| | | a. Section 7 concerns the court's authority either to compel | | or stay arbitration proceedings. Parties should not be able to | | interfere with this power of the court to initiate or deny the | | right to arbitrate. |
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| | | b. Section 14 provides arbitrators and arbitration | | organizations with immunity for acting in their respective | | capacities. Similarly, arbitrators and representatives of | | arbitration organizations are protected from being required to | | testify in certain instances and if arbitrators or arbitration | | organizations are the subject of unwarranted litigation, they | | can recover attorney fees. This section is intended to protect | | the integrity of the arbitration process and is not waivable | | by the parties. |
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| | | c. Likewise, Section 18, dealing with judicial enforcement of | | preaward rulings, is an inherent right; otherwise parties | | would be unable to insure a fair hearing and there would be no | | mechanism to carry out preaward orders. |
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| | | d. Subsections (a), (b), and (c) of Section 20 give the | | parties the right to apply to the arbitrators to correct or | | clarify an award; this right is waivable. But the right of a | | court in Section 20(d) to order an arbitrator to correct or | | clarify an award and the applicability of Sections 22, 23, and | | 24 to Section 20 as provided in Section 20(e) are not | | waivable. |
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| | | e. The judicial confirmation, vacatur, and modification | | provisions of Sections 22, 23, and 24 are not waivable. | | Special note should be made in regard to Section 23 concerning | | vacatur. Parties cannot waive or vary the statutory grounds | | for vacatur such as that a court can vacate an arbitration | | award procured by fraud or corruption. However, parties can | | add appropriate grounds that are not in the statute. For | | instance, as described in Comment C to Section 23, courts have | | developed nonstatutory grounds of manifest disregard of the | | law and violation of public policy that will void an | | arbitration award. Parties could include such standards as | | grounds for vacatur in their | | arbitration agreement. Similarly, as discussed in Comment B to | | Section 23, at this time there is a split of authority whether | | courts will recognize the validity of arbitration agreements | | by parties to |
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