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Enforcing arbitral awards—limits to public policy arguments clarified (Alexander Brothers v Alstom)

Published on: 25 June 2020
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Article summary

Arbitration analysis: In this case, the defendant (Alstom) sought to challenge the claimant’s (ABL’s) enforcement of an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitral award in England and Wales (England, for short). Alstom argued that enforcement of the award would be contrary to section 103(3) of the Arbitration Act 1996 (AA 1996) because it believed that ABL had engaged in bribery. Mrs Justice Cockerill, in the Commercial Court, dismissed Alstom’s application. The judge held that, on balance, the arbitral tribunal had not determined the bribery allegation ‘on the facts’. However, Alstom had had all the evidence it needed to make its bribery allegations during the course of the arbitration proceedings and it was an abuse of process to wait to only deploy those arguments fully at the enforcement stage. The judge also rejected Alstom’s arguments that: enforcement of the award would be contrary to EU law; that the earlier decision of the Paris Court of Appeal gave rise to an issue...

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