Enforcement

Enforcement

This subtopic provides practical guidance on the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards in the courts of England and Wales, and related matters.

This subtopic primarily provides guidance on the recognition and enforcement of arbitration awards under English and Welsh law and the Arbitration Act 1996 (AA 1996), which applies, with some exceptions, to arbitrations seated in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Guidance on related court procedure is limited to the courts of England and Wales (England and English are used as convenient shorthand). Practitioners may find some of the guidance relevant to arbitrations seated outside these jurisdictions.

For information on the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards in other jurisdictions, see: International arbitration—enforcing international arbitral awards—overview.

To compare how arbitral awards are recognised and enforced in jurisdictions around the world, please see our International Comparator Tool.

An introduction to recognising and enforcing international arbitral awards

At the end of arbitration proceedings an arbitral tribunal will, typically, issue a final arbitral award on the merits of the parties’ dispute. In many cases, compliance with the tribunal’s

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Law360, London: A group of professional tennis players is contesting applications by the organisers of two of the sport's largest competitive events to dismiss the players' union from their New York federal antitrust claim and forcibly make them arbitrate their claims accusing the organisers of running an illegal 'cartel'.

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This week's edition of Arbitration weekly highlights includes: coverage of arbitration-related decisions from England and Wales, India and Hong Kong, updates from UNCTAD, CAM, SCIA, SCIAHK, PCA, AfAA and CRCICA, and analysis of the recent ICJ Advisory Opinion on states’ obligations on climate change, reporting on the first ICSID claim against the UK, and commentary on the recent surge of data centre construction and the potential new wave of international arbitrations relating to the data industry. All this, and more, in our weekly highlights.

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India—A non-signatory to arbitration agreement has no legal right to remain present in arbitration proceedings (Re Kamal Gupta)

Arbitration analysis: A non-signatory to an arbitration agreement will have no right to participate when the proceedings are not in relation to rights or properties affecting him, and the award does not have any binding effect in relation to his rights. Allowing a non-signatory to remain present will result in a breach of party autonomy and the confidentiality of arbitration proceedings. A non-signatory to the arbitration agreement cannot invoke the inherent powers of the court under general procedural law to claim a right to remain present in the arbitration proceedings. The Indian Arbitration Act is a self-contained code regulating every aspect of its proceedings, and if it does not provide for something implicitly, then it excludes it explicitly. Written by Dipen Shah, senior arbitration and construction counsel, solicitor England and Wales, India.