The enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Kuwait S. Badah

• Author: Saad Badah
• Position: Law School, Brunel University, London, UK
• Pages: 9-15

AGORA International Journal of Juridical Sciences, www.juridicalj ournal.univagora.ro

ISSN 1843-570X, E-ISSN 2067-7677

No. 2 (2014), pp. 9-15

9

THE ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN ARBITRAL AWARDS IN KUWAIT

S. BADAH

1

SAAD BADAH

1

Law School, Brunel University, London, UK .

Correspondence: Saad Badah, Law School, Brunel University – London, UK.

Tel:0096599200747: E-mail:SaadAHJ.Badah@brunel.ac.uk,sa3d51@hotmail.com

Abstract

This article is an analysis of the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Kuwait, an Islamic

nation governed by Sharia law. The need for this analysis stems from the potential conflict

between the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards

(1958) (the ‘New York Convention’)(which came into effect in Kuwait on 27 July 1978)and

Sharia law and the need to merge the two into a cohesive legal system.The Gulf Cooperation

Council (GCC) has a representative office in Kuwait that facilitates the applicable provisions

contained therein.

Keywords: The Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards

Introduction

Arbitration, under international law, is referred to as a formal dispute settlement

mechanism

1

similar to a common judicial procedure.

2

Arbitration is a binding determination

of a dispute by a third party who is sufficiently competent and knowledgeable to resolve a

dispute in accordance with a set of legal principles.

3

Flexibility is offered to the disputing

parties, with an arbitration tribunal being set up, both on an ad hoc or permanent basis, such

as the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

4

Arbitral awards, according to Article II of the Convention on the Recognition and

Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the ‘New York Convention’), are defined as

including ‘not only awards made by the arbitrators appointed for each case but also those

made by permanent arbitral bodies to which the parties have submitted’.

5

This definition

encompasses all kinds of arbitral awards to which the parties signatory to the Convention are

party. According to the Convention, an arbitral award includes the ‘agreement in writing’

6

that

is an arbitration agreement signed by the parties or an arbitration clause contained in an

exchange of letters.

7

Article I(2) of the New York Convention has sought to

8

define an arbitral award to

mean that it will not be limited to awards that are made by the arbitrators appointed in each

1

W. Ragib, ‘Hal Altahkeem Nao’min Alqada’?’ (‘Is Arbitra tion a type of Litigation?’),University of Kuwait Law

Journal 17(1) (1993): 131-172.

2

See D. Roth well, S. Kaye, A. Akhatkavari &R. Davis, International law: Ca ses and Materials with Australian

Perspectives(Melbourne: Cambridge University Press,2011).

3

Ibid., p. 673.

4

1907 Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes (H ague I) [1997] ATS 6.

5

Article II of the New York Convention.

6

Article II(2) of the New York Convention.

7

P. Nacimiento, New law on civil and commercial arbitration, International Commercial Litigation, 46 (1996):5-

10.

8

Article I(2) of the New York Convention.