PrintThe recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards is a subject largely governed by multilateral conventions.
- Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitration Awards of June 10, 1958, known as the “New York Convention”
- The Convention has been adopted by 137 countries, including the U.S.
- Chapter II of the Federal Arbitration Act (the “FAA”) implements the Convention. 9 U.S.C. §§ 201-208.
- “The goal of the [New York] Convention, and the principal purpose underlying American adoption and implementation of it, was to encourage the recognition and enforcement of commercial arbitration agreements in international contracts[.]” Scherk v. Alberto-Culver Co., 417 U.S. 506, 520 n.15 (1974). Federal policy favoring arbitration “applies with special force in the field of international commerce.” Mitsubishi Motors Corp. v. Soler Chrysler-Plymouth, Inc., 473 U.S. 614, 631 (1985).
- Inter-American Convention on International Commercial Arbitration, known as the “Panama Convention,” adopted by the U.S. in 1990.
- 18 countries in North and South America have adopted the Panama Convention.
- Implementing legislation appears in Chapter III of the FAA.
- The Panama Convention takes precedence over the New York Convention if a majority of the parties to an arbitration agreement are from countries that have ratified the Panama Convention.
- For purposes of enforcement of arbitral awards, the conventions are applied similarly in U.S. courts and we primarily discuss the New York Convention.