US 940

02 - 10 - 2017

US 940

Yearbook Yearbook Commercial Arbitration, S. W. Schill (ed.), Vol. XLIII (2018)
Jurisdiction United States
Summary

US 940. OJSC Ukrnafta v. Carpatsky Petroleum Corp. et al., United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, Civil Action H-09-891, 2 October 2017

Related topics
301

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.

Procedure for enforcement in general
405

The court discusses issues relating to the moment when the documents that are required for seeking recognition and enforcement must be supplied, and whether any defect can be cured later in the enforcement proceeding.

"At the time of application"
501

The court discusses questions relating to the general approach taken by the Convention to the grounds for refusal of recognition and enforcement, including its pro-enforcement bias, as well as the system of the Convention, under which recognition and enforcement may only be denied on seven listed grounds and the petitioner has only the obligations set out in Art. IV.

Grounds are exhaustive
502

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.

No re-examination of the merits of the arbitral award
503

The court discusses the burden of proof of the grounds for refusing enforcement under the Convention.

Burden of proof on respondent
504 Paragraph 1 - Ground a: Invalidity of the arbitration agreement - Agreement referred to in Art. II
508 Ground b: Violation of due process in general
512 Ground c: Excess by arbitrator of his authority - Excess of authority
513 Ground d: Irregularity in the composition of the arbitral tribunal or arbitral procedure
516

Award not binding, suspended or set aside: The court discusses the difference between the exclusive jurisdiction to set aside an award (primary jurisdiction), which belongs to the courts of the country of origin of the award, and the jurisdiction of all other courts to recognize and enforce the award (secondary jurisdiction); issues relating to the determination of the “competent authority”; and whether an award that has been set aside in the country of origin can be enforced in another State under the Convention.

"Set aside"
524

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.

Other cases
US 940