For several centuries English courts have exercised extensive control over the arbitral process. Up until the end of the 19th century, judges sometimes openly showed their hostility to arbitration. The creation of the commercial court in 1895 marked the end of the era in which judges viewed arbitrations as rival tribunals. Nevertheless, English judges continued to make ample use of their supervisory powers to ensure that arbitrators applied the law of England and not some private system of arbitration law. The principal means of exercising this control was the special case procedure. As dissatisfaction with the situation grew, the movement for reform was given a final impetus by the July 1978 publication of the 'Report on Arbitration of the Commercial Court Committee.' The Arbitration Act of 1979 largely followed the recommendations of the report. In essence, the 1979 act was a pragmatic compromise. It abolished, inter alia, the special case procedure but created a new and fairly restricted appeal procedure. It is argued herein that despite imperfections of the new system which are currently under review by the Commercial Court Committee, a reasonable balance has been achieved through the new law between the competing principles of finality and legal certainty. Approximately 50 footnotes are included in the article. (Author abstract modified).