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UNITED STATES 2026-3
United States District Court, District of Columbia, 8 September 2025, Case No. 1:23-cv-03572 (TNM)
(Mercuria Energy Group Limited v. Republic of Poland)
UNITED STATES 2026-3
The District Court denied Mercuria’s application to confirm an SCC award. Though it held that Poland did not enjoy sovereign immunity because of the arbitration exception in the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), the Court found that the award had been set aside in Sweden, and that courts in the Circuit normally did not enforce awards that had been set aside, unless the annulment decision was “repugnant to fundamental notions” of decency and justice. This was not the case here.
The court discusses issues relating to the quality of the parties, as physical or legal persons against whom enforcement of an arbitral award is sought, including the incapacity of a State to enter into an arbitration agreement, and questions relating to sovereign immunity. For the related defenses to enforcement, see Art. V(1)(a).
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.