Does the New York Arbitration Convention of 1958 apply retroactively: decision of the House of Lords in Government of Kuwait v. Sir Frederic Snow

Abstract

This important decision of the House of Lords1; has a long history. On 15 July 1958, the Government of Kuwait (Minister of Public Works) and the consulting civil engineers, Sir Frederic Snow and Partners, entered into a contract concerning the construction of an international airport in Kuwait. A dispute rose in 1964 which resulted in an arbitration in Kuwait no less than eight years later. In accordance with the arbitration clause in the contract, Dr Yassin was appointed as arbitrator by the Kuwaiti National Court on 22 May 1972. Dr Yassin made his award in Kuwait on 18 September 1973, whereby he ordered the Partnership to pay to the Kuwaiti Government a sum of Kuwaiti Dinars equivalent to almost sterling £3.5 million. It was only on 23 March 1979, that the Kuwaiti Government applied to the Commercial Court in London for leave to enforce the award against the Partnership. In the meantime on 24 September 1975, the United Kingdom acceded to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Awards of 10 June 1958. The New York Convention was implemented in the United Kingdom by the Arbitration Act 1975. Kuwait acceded to the New York Convention on 28 April 1978. At this point it should be noted that the United Kingdom used the first reservation under article I(3) of the New York Convention. According to this reservation, a state (when becoming party to the Convention) can limit the Convention's field of application to awards made in other contracting states only. Section 7(2) of the Arbitration Act 1975 specifies that if Her Majesty by Order in Council declares that any state specified in the Order is a party to the New York Convention, the Order shall be conclusive evidence that that state is a party to …