Recognition and Enforcement of Annulled Arbitral Awards under the New York Convention

Abstract

In the 60 years since its inception, the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards [“New York Convention”] has become one of the most successful international treaties ever, having been adopted by 157 of the 193 United Nations Member States. In this paper, I shall focus my attention on its regime since it represents the internationally accepted standards on the recognition and the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. I shall be analysing Article V(1)(e) of the Convention which is the cause of a rather intense debate among international scholars. It revolves around the possibility of recognition of annulled foreign arbitral awards. This paper starts with the introduction of central concepts relating to the debate surrounding Article V(1)(e) of the Convention and the positions that have been put forward in the past decades. I will contextualize the appearance of the New York Convention as well as elaborate on the concepts of ‘recognition’, ‘enforcement’ and ‘setting aside’ of awards, the way they were dealt with by the drafters of the Convention, and the interests at play. I will also cover the controversies over the nationality of the award and the discretionary power of the courts in enforcing annulled arbitral awards. I will finish by analysing the regime under other conventions, and the situation of pending and set-aside proceedings.