Application of the New York Convention in India

Abstract

Forty–five independent states were represented at the Conference of Plenipotentiaries held in New York in June 1958 to conclude the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. India’s representative was elected as First Vice–President of the Conference. India was not only a party to the New York Convention but had been an active participant at the deliberations that led to the Convention. To give effect to the New York Convention (often described as “the most successful of all UN Conventions”) India’s Parliament enacted the Foreign Awards (Recognition and Enforcement) Act 1961; domestic arbitrations continued to be governed by the somewhat antiquated Indian Arbitration Act 1940. The 1961 Act, along with the 1940 Act, were later repealed and replaced by a new consolidated law applicable to both domestic and international arbitrations, the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996. This article examines how issues arising under statutory provisions implementing Article V of the New York Convention (Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Awards) have been dealt with by courts in India.