Review of important decisions
The scope of the public policy exception of Art. V(2)(b) of the Convention was discussed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, which stressed in Orient Power that this exception acted as a safeguard of fundamental notions of morality and justice, and was not meant to allow a review of the merits of the award or create additional grounds for refusal which were not available under Art. V. In Obras Portuaris de Coatzacoalcos, the Spanish Court of Appeal of Catalunya also explained that public policy in the context of the Convention meant the fundamental rights of the Spanish legal system.
Procedural issues in proceedings for the enforcement of Convention awards were discussed in two decisions. The Italian Corte di Cassazione in Costruzioni Falcione rejected as being inadmissible an appeal seeking a review of the factual findings of the court of appeal, which had dismissed, on the evidence, claims that counsel for a party in the arbitration had not been properly appointed, and that Falcione had not been notified of the arbitration. The Dutch Hoge Raad found in the Stati v. Kazakhstan case that the Amsterdam Court of Appeal had erred in holding that it had jurisdiction over the application for exequatur of the SCC award between the parties. The jurisdiction lay instead with the President of the Amsterdam Court of First Instance, in accordance with the transitional provisions of the 2015 Dutch arbitration law reform.
Decisions from the British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, the Russian Federation, and the United States, were also made available on the site.
THESE ARE THE DECISIONS REFERRED TO:
● Supreme Court of Pakistan, 17 August 2021, Civil Appeal No.1547 of 2019
(Orient Power Company (Private) Limited v. Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited)
● Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Catalunya, 10 March 2021
(Obras Portuaris de Coatzacoalcos, S.A. de C.V. and Matrix Concesiones, S.A. de C.V. v. FCC
Construcción, SA)
● Corte di Cassazione, 30 November 2020, no. 27322/2020
(Costruzioni Falcione Geom. Luigi s.r.l. v. Al Nabri Global Investment Company LLC)
● Hoge Raad, 24 December 2021 (Republic of Kazakhstan v. Respondent 1, Respondent 2, ASCOM Group S.A., Terra Raf Trans Traiding
Ltd.)