SPAIN 14 October 2020 PCS Construcciones Sostenibles
Tribunal Superior de Justicia, Madrid, 14 October 2020
(PCS Construcciones Sostenibles, S.A. v. Sociedad Española de Montajes Industriales, S.A.)
SPAIN 14 October 2020 PCS Construcciones Sostenibles
The Madrid Court of Appeal granted exequatur of an award rendered in Panama. It found that the applicant had complied with the conditions of Art. IV of the New York Convention, and denied the public policy objections of the defendant. Noting the bias in favour of enforcement contained in Art. III of the Convention, and that public policy in this context meant fundamental, constitutionally guaranteed rights, the Court explained that it could not review the merits of the arbitral decision and could not therefore review the defendant's argument that the arbitral tribunal had given insufficient or contradictory reasons for its award. As to the contention that enforcement of the award would violate public policy because the defendant was not a party to the contract containing the arbitration clause, and had not been a party to the arbitration, the Court applied the rules of necessary passive litisconsortium to find that the award could properly be enforced against the defendant.
The court discusses the principle that the procedure for the enforcement of awards under the Convention is governed by the lex fori, as well as procedural issues (such as the competent enforcement court) not falling under the specific cases of ¶¶ 302-307.
The court discusses the general conditions the Convention imposes on a petitioner for seeking recognition and enforcement of an arbitral award – namely, the submission of the original arbitration agreement or arbitral award or a certified copy thereof – and examines in general whether these conditions were complied in the case at issue.
The court discusses the principle that the merits of the award may not be reviewed and that the court may only carry out a limited review of the award to ascertain grounds for refusal.
Public policy: The court discusses the meaning of (international as compared to domestic) public policy, generally defined as the basic notions of morality and justice of the enforcement State.
Public policy: The court discusses the effect of other alleged violations of public policy on the recognition and enforcement of an arbitral award, such as contradictory reasons, manifest disregard of the law (US), etc.