(1)  An " arbitration agreement " is an agreement by the parties to submit to arbitration all or certain disputes which have arisen or which may arise between them in respect of a defined legal relationship, whether contractual or not.

(2)  An arbitration agreement may be in the form of an arbitration clause in a contract or in the form of a separate agreement.

(3)  The arbitration agreement must be in writing.

(4)  An arbitration agreement is in writing if its content is recorded in any form whether or not the arbitration agreement or contract has been concluded orally, by conduct, or by other means.

(5)  The requirement that an arbitration agreement be in writing is met by an electronic communication if the information contained in it is accessible so as to be useable for subsequent reference.

(6)  In this section –

data message means information generated, sent, received or stored by electronic, magnetic, optical or similar means, including, but not limited to, electronic data interchange (EDI), electronic mail, telegram, telex or telecopy;

electronic communication means any communication that the parties make by means of data messages.

(7)  Furthermore, an arbitration agreement is in writing if it is contained in an exchange of statements of claim and defence in which the existence of an agreement is alleged by one party and not denied by the other.

(8)  The reference in a contract to any document containing an arbitration clause constitutes an arbitration agreement in writing, provided that the reference is such as to make that clause part of the contract.

Note. This section is substantially the same as Option 1 set out in Art 7 of the Model Law.