The Concept of Foreign Arbitration Award in the Light of New York Convention, 1958

Abstract

The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, New York 1958, is a comprehensive instrument which facilitates the enforcement of arbitral decisions. The New York Convention Compared to its predecessor, the Geneva Convention 1927, on the Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards has gained more flexibility and acceptance among UN member states. In accordance with Article 1, this Convention is applicable in a State other than the State where the recognition and enforcement of such awards are sought, or to arbitral awards not considered to be domestic awards. Therefore, the scope of the application of this Convention depends on what the notions of “arbitrator’s award” and “foreign arbitration award” are; because these two notions can determine which awards should be executed under the rules of the Convention and gain its benefits. However, the Convention gives no clear definition of foreign arbitral award. Under the New York Convention two types of foreign arbitral awards are recognized; arbitral awards that are not considered domestic and arbitral awards rendered in the territory of the state other than the state of the recognition and enforcement of award. In consequence it might be said the New York Convention is based on two criteria with different interpretations of which the territorial criterion is the most important one in comparison with functional criterion. So this paper aims to clarify the concept mentioned as one of Convention’s requirements in terms of executive scope.