When Can a Non-Signatory Third-Party Be Bound by An Arbitration Award?

Generally, it is a well-settled position of the law that it is only parties to a contract that are imbued with the rights to sue and be sued on the obligations of the contract. Arbitration is the creation of a contract, i.e. consent of both parties can only be invoked by parties or signatories to the contract with an arbitration clause. However, there exists now exceptions to the above principle of law. This study focuses on the exceptions on when a non-party to an arbitration agreement or clause may invoke the arbitration clause even though the party never signed the underlying arbitration clause/agreement. In a similar fashion, it also reviewed instances where the non-party may be compelled to arbitrate despite the fact that the non-party did not append its signature or consent to the contract containing the arbitration clause. The article reviewed the various case laws that dealt extensively with the exceptions and scholarly articles relating to the discourse particularly the U.S. Supreme Court decision where a non-party was held to have the requisite rights to arbitrate