Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards

This book examines how the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, commonly known as The New York Convention, has been understood and applied in [insert number] jurisdictions, including virtually all that are leading international arbitration centers. This book examines how the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, commonly known as The New York Convention, has been understood and applied in [insert number] jurisdictions, including virtually all that are leading international arbitration centers. It begins with a general report surveying and synthesizing national responses to a large number of critical issues in the Convention’s interpretation and application. It is followed by national reports, all of which are organized in accordance with a common questionnaire raising these critical issues. Following introductory remarks, each report addresses the following aspects of the Convention which include its basic implementation within the national legal system; enforcement by local courts of agreements to arbitrate (including grounds for withholding enforcement), recognition and enforcement of foreign awards by local courts under the Convention (including grounds for denying recognition and enforcement), and essential procedural issues in the courts’ conduct of recognition and enforcement. Each report concludes with an overall assessment of the Convention’s interpretation and application on national territory and recommendations, if any, for reform. The New York Convention was intended to enhance the workings of the international arbitral system, primarily by ensuring that arbitral awards are readily recognizable and enforceable in States other than the State in which they are rendered, subject of course to certain safeguards reflected by the Convention’s limited grounds for denying recognition or enforcement. It secondarily binds signatory states to enforce the arbitration agreements on the basis of which awards under the Convention will be rendered. Despite its exceptionally wide adoption and its broad coverage, the New York Convention depends for its efficacy on the conduct of national actors, and national courts in particular. Depending on the view of international law prevailing in a given State, the Convention may require statutory implementation at the national level. Beyond that, the Convention requires of national courts an apt understanding of the principles and policies that underlie the Convention’s various provisions. Through its in-depth coverage of the understandings of the Convention that prevail across national legal systems, the book gives practitioners and scholars a much-improved appreciation of the New York Convention “on the ground.” This book examines how the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, commonly known as The New York Convention, has been understood and applied in [insert number] jurisdictions, including virtually all that are leading international arbitration centers. It begins with a general report surveying and synthesizing national responses to a large number of critical issues in the Convention’s interpretation and application. It is followed by national reports, all of which are organized in accordance with a common questionnaire raising these critical issues. Following introductory remarks, each report addresses the following aspects of the Convention which include its basic implementation within the national legal system; enforcement by local courts of agreements to arbitrate (including grounds for withholding enforcement), recognition and enforcement of foreign awards by local courts under the Convention (including grounds for denying recognition and enforcement), and essential procedural issues in the courts’ conduct of recognition and enforcement. Each report concludes with an overall assessment of the Convention’s interpretation and application on national territory and recommendations, if any, for reform. The New York Convention was intended to enhance the workings of the international arbitral system, primarily by ensuring that arbitral awards are readily recognizable and enforceable in States other than the State in which they are rendered, subject of course to certain safeguards reflected by the Convention’s limited grounds for denying recognition or enforcement. It secondarily binds signatory states to enforce the arbitration agreements on the basis of which awards under the Convention will be rendered. Despite its exceptionally wide adoption and its broad coverage, the New York Convention depends for its efficacy on the conduct of national actors, and national courts in particular. Depending on the view of international law prevailing in a given State, the Convention may require statutory implementation at the national level. Beyond that, the Convention requires of national courts an apt understanding of the principles and policies that underlie the Convention’s various provisions. Through its in-depth coverage of the understandings of the Convention that prevail across national legal systems, the book gives practitioners and scholars a much-improved appreciation of the New York Convention “on the ground.”

The 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards is without a doubt the single most important treaty in the field of international commercial arbitration, and has enjoyed remarkable success over its half-century of use. It has been praised as a convention which and#8216;perhaps could lay claim to be the most effective instance of international legislation in the entire history of commercial law.and#8217; In honour of the Conventionand#8217;s fiftieth anniversary, outstanding scholars of international commercial arbitration have contributed to this comprehensive commentary. Following a design calling for article-by-article analysis (or even, in the case of the crucial Article 5, by sub-article), this unique book provides an in-depth analysis of the Conventionand#8217;s first fifty years in light of internationally accessible case law from a wide range of jurisdictions around the world. In so doing it greatly clarifies and enhances our knowledge of both the theoretical underpinnings and the practical application of the Convention in its global context. The authors, each of whom is an experienced practitioner in the field of international arbitration, draw on experience in a wide variety of national jurisdictions. In addition to drafting chapters independently, each has made invaluable contributions to other authorsand#8217; chapters. Authoritative case law research was further provided by dozens of contributors with expertise in specific jurisdictions worldwide. The analysis thoroughly covers the major issues that have arisen in the application of the Convention, including the following: the use of reservations made by Contracting States; the distinctions between recognition and enforcement and between recognition sought at the seat of the arbitration and outside the seat; the role of the courts in reviewing arbitral awards and, in particular, the Conventionand#8217;s focus on safeguarding due process standards; the and#8220;more favourable rightsand#8221; principle embodied in Article VII(1); the relevance of forum shopping and asset spotting to the application of the Convention; and the role of formalities and formalism. The end result is an invaluable work that will prove enormously useful to all international commercial arbitration practitioners and scholars, regardless of location. 'In my opinion, the new commentary is a andquot;mustandquot; for any practitioner in the field of international arbitration. Its particular value consists in its systematic approach both to analysing every element of each provision of the convention and to providing the reader, for each such provision, with leading court decisions from around the world to show how the convention works in practice. There is good reason to hope with the editors (and with Karl-Heinz Band#246;ckstiegel, who wrote the foreword) that the commentary will contribute to the development of a more uniform standard for the application of the convention.' Klaus Sachs, partner at CMS Hasche Sigle in Munich, in Global Arbitration Review, March 2011