Are Russian Courts Able to Keep Control over the Unruly Horse?

Abstract

On 1 April 2013, the Higher Arbitrazh Court of the Russian Federation (HAC), Russia's highest commercial court, published Information Letter No. 156 dated 26 February 2013 on its website, in which it approved the Review of Arbitrazh Court Practice in Applying the Public Policy Exception as a Ground for Refusal to Recognize and Enforce Foreign Judgments and Arbitral Awards (the 'Review') and recommended that it be used as a guidance by all Russian Arbitrazh (commercial) Courts. Violation of public policy is one of the classic and perhaps the most frequently invoked objections to the recognition and enforcement in Russia of foreign judgments and arbitral awards. For this reason, it has been of vital importance for Russian court practice that a more precise definition of public policy, and the extent to which this concept should be applied, be formulated. The Review sets forth the legal positions of HAC based on specific cases where violation of public policy has been invoked. This article provides an overview of the main legal positions expressed in the Review.