“Alsuwaidi & Company has successfully represented their client in a ruling by the Federal Supreme Court on 15 January 2019 on the enforcement and recognition of an arbitral award.”.
In the said ruling, the Federal Supreme Court overturned a refusal by the Khor Fakkan Court of Appeal to recognize and enforce a foreign arbitral award which had been issued under the Rules of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) in London, on the basis that it had not been granted exequatur by the English Court before being enforced in the UAE.
The Federal Supreme Court held that the basis on which the lower court rejected the recognition and enforcement of the mentioned award in that it was not granted exequatur in the country where it was issued was unlawful. The Federal Supreme Court found that the Court of Appeal’s ruling amounted to a ‘double-exequatur’ requirement which had been abolished by the New York Convention.
In view of the foregoing, the term “authentication” as envisaged in Article IV(1)(a) of the New York Convention should be construed as authentication and legalization as required for official documents issued by a foreign country and invoked within the State.”