XXIII Enforcement and Execution

Subject(s):

Review of arbitral awards

This concluding chapter addresses the enforcement and execution of investment treaty awards. Enforcement of an arbitration award is a broad and sometimes ambiguous term that is often used to refer to any post-award attempt by the winning party to obtain the fruits of its victory. It can include (1) confirmation or exequatur proceedings at the seat of the arbitration; (2) proceedings to have the award enforced as a judgment in jurisdictions other than the seat; and (3) proceedings to execute upon an award by levying on the losing party’s assets, either at the seat or in other jurisdictions where assets can be found. Different legal rules govern each of the three types of proceedings. The chapter then considers the 1958 New York Convention and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) Convention provisions on enforcement as well as the sovereign immunity defences to execution in light of decisions of various national courts.