Although often seen as theoretical, the recognition and enforcement of annulled arbitral awards remain a fascinating issue in international arbitration. As the text of the New York Convention (“NYC”) provides limited guidance, there has been substantial consideration in both academic commentaries and national court decisions. While global arbitration hubs such as Paris, London, or Singapore…
On 26 July 2024, the Russian Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling (the “Ruling”) outlining a novel stance on the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. This jurisprudential shift, which is decidedly not pro-arbitration, erects new barriers for persons domiciled in countries deemed “hostile” or “unfriendly” by Russia to obtain their consideration in the…
Through Ruling No. 3232-19-EP/24, Ecuador’s Constitutional Court (“Court”) settled a long-standing discussion and confirmed that recognition prior to the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards is an unreasonable requirement in light of the Ecuadorian legal system. In this post, we describe the factual background of the Court’s ruling and examine the procedural issues underlying the recent…
On 5 May 2024, the Civil and Commercial Court of the Qatar Financial Centre (“Court”), rendered its judgment in B v C on a setting aside application brought under the QFC Arbitration Regulations 2005 (“QFC Arbitration Regulations”). This is an important judgment because it is the first Court judgment commenting on the setting aside of…
On 5 March 2024, the European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR” or “the Court”) delivered its judgment in Iliria S.R.L. v. Albania (“Iliria”), a case concerning a complaint under Article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR” or “the Convention”) relating to a more than 17-year delay in the conclusion of recognition (exequatur) proceedings…
On 19 January 2024, the High Court of Justice of England and Wales gave judgment in Border Timbers Ltd v Republic of Zimbabwe [2024] EWHC 58 (Comm). The decision of Dias J considered, in detail, the application of the UK State Immunity Act 1978 (“SIA”) to the registration, enforcement, and execution of ICSID arbitral awards…
This Part 2 continues reflections on key arbitration-related developments in Canada during 2023. Whereas Part 1 addressed the courts’ approaches to arbitrator independence and impartiality and the unconscionability of arbitration agreements, this Part 2 shines light on different takes on procedural fairness and “fresh evidence” in post-award proceedings. What is “Proper Notice”? The past…
One of the reasons that parties opt in for arbitration instead of litigation as a mechanism to settle their disputes is that the recognition and enforcement of an arbitral award is easier to accomplish than the recognition and enforcement of a foreign judgment rendered by a state court. The Netherlands has been a party to…
In a recent decision, the Austrian Supreme Court ruled on the enforceability of an investor-state award rendered under the ICSID Additional Facility Rules. While the Supreme Court found that the award was — in principle — enforceable under the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards from 1958 (“NYC“), it upheld the…
In 2022, Canadian courts revisited some old issues, like the timeframe for recognizing foreign arbitral awards, but also faced new dilemmas, such as the impact of sanctions on recognition and enforcement. Fostering Canada’s pro-arbitration standing, courts were generally adamant about referring commercial parties to arbitration, although a few exceptions that arose in insolvency contexts are…
The past year has seen several victories for Canada on the ISDS front, a conclusion of a decade-long NAFTA arbitration, and much more. If 2022 is any indication, readers will have many more developments to look forward to during 2023. Canada comes out of 2022 mostly on top in ISDS Of the cases surveyed,…
Arbitration’s key strength lies in the near-universal enforcement of its arbitral awards. The 1958 Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (“New York Convention”) offers parties the benefit of going under a uniform enforcement regime in all of its Contracting States. But whilst it is a popular choice, the New York Convention…
Despite the ongoing Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine and constant terror, Ukrainian courts continue to function and deliver justice. Recently, the Supreme Court has adopted a landmark judgment regarding the enforcement of ICSID awards in Ukraine, which is set to change judicial practice going forward. Our colleagues previously highlighted the deficiencies of the Ukrainian court…
Introduction Until recently, there was no definitive Korean court decision on whether a foreign award that includes an award of exemplary (or punitive) damages should be recognized and enforced (1) in its entirety or (2) only partially (i.e. without the award of exemplary damages).1)Wonsik Yoon, Rieu Kim and Hyukjun Jung, “Recognition and Enforcement of the…
Uzbekistan has updated certain legislative acts in connection with the recent adoption of the Law “On International Commercial Arbitration” (No. O’RQ-674) in 2021 (as previously covered in this blog). On May 16, 2022, the President of Uzbekistan signed a new law “On amendments and additions to certain legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan in…
We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions: Roger P. Alford, Crina Baltag, Matthew E.K. Hall and Monique Sasson, Empirical Analysis of National Courts Vacatur and Enforcement of International Commercial Arbitration Awards The empirical research in this article relies on a…
One of the articles authored by Dr Monique Sasson and featured in the Journal of International Arbitration Special Issue on Empirical Work in Commercial Arbitration, edited by Dr Monique Sasson, Dr Crina Baltag, Roger P. Alford, Matthew E.K. Hall, under the general editorship of Prof. Dr Maxi Scherer, discussed the public policy in the light…
On June 6, 2022, the Journal of International Arbitration Special Issue on Empirical Work in Commercial Arbitration, was released, edited by Dr Monique Sasson, Dr Crina Baltag, Roger P. Alford, Matthew E.K. Hall, under the general editorship of Prof. Dr Maxi Scherer. The Special Issue also includes articles authored by Prof. Loukas Mistelis, Prof. Dr…
Historical records indicate that Tuesday, 10 June 1958 must have been a busy day in the corridors of the United Nations.1)Gary Born and the author are Expert International Commercial Arbitration Consultants retained by the Asian Development Bank to advise states on accession to the Convention, legislative reform and capacity building. On that day, following the…
It is trite to suggest that the awards rendered under the aegis of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (“ICSID”) are insulated from national court review. In the context of recognition and enforcement, national courts are not permitted to examine ICSID arbitral awards. In 2006, 50 years after the ICSID Convention came into force, commentators…
In 2019 – 2020 a group of Ukrainian arbitration practitioners set out on an ambitious study of Ukrainian court decisions on recognition of arbitral awards. In this blog post, members of the group describe the background and methodology of the study and, most importantly, share its results. Ukraine as an Arbitration Jurisdiction Ukrainian law…
It’s all still to play for. After the Paris Court of Appeal refused enforcement of a Swiss arbitral award against Alstom on the grounds of corruption, the French Supreme Court has now overturned that decision, ruling that the judges misinterpreted the evidence before them. The case may now be referred to the Versailles Court of…
This blog post examines the approaches of Belarusian law and judicial practice to the application of public policy rules. Considering specific cases, the author makes suggestions for mitigating the risks to challenge of arbitral awards on the grounds of non-compliance with Belarusian public policy. Supreme Court Resolution on Public Policy Under Belarusian law, Belarusian…
In the constitutional lawsuit (amparo) with court docket number 7856/2019, the First Chamber of the National Supreme Court of Justice analyzed the constitutionality of Article 1461, second paragraph, of the Commercial Code, which states, in its relevant part, that a party interested in enforcing an arbitration award must file the original arbitral award “duly authenticated”.1)Precedent…
