Where a commercial contract provides that a dispute 'may be referred by either party' to a specified dispute resolution procedure, the word 'may' is permissive as to whether a party invokes the provision, but once invoked by either party, the specified procedure is mandatory and exclusive, and cannot be resisted by the other party. The consent of the other party is not required. Contractual provisions prescribing in positive terms a dispute resolution procedure to be followed necessarily imply that the same matter will not be dealt with under a different procedure.
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