Supreme Court of the Czech Republic, 18 October 2016, NS 20 Cdo 4663/2015
(Czech Republic, Ministry of Finance v. P.T.)
The Supreme Court of the Czech Republic on 18 October 2016. The first instance and appellate courts had granted recognition of an award on costs and a supplementary award rendered in Germany. The Supreme Court affirmed this conclusion. It explained that the New York Convention applied, and found that under the Convention, it was for the defendant to prove a ground for refusing recognition and enforcement. Here, the defendant did not substantiate its claim that the arbitral tribunal lacked jurisdiction, whereas the applicant showed that the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal had been based on the 1990 BIT between the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic and Switzerland. As to the ground of violation of public policy, which must be examined by the recognition court ex officio, the Court held that it need not discuss it, because this argument had been thoroughly examined and denied by the appellate court.