Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 

Overview 

The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, commonly known as the New York Convention, was adopted by a United Nations diplomatic conference on 10 June 1958 and entered into force on 7 June 1959. The Convention requires courts of contracting states to give effect to private agreements to arbitrate and to recognize and enforce arbitration awards made in other contracting states. Widely considered the foundational instrument for international arbitration, it applies to arbitrations that are not considered as domestic awards in the state where recognition and enforcement is sought. 

Summary of Provisions 

Under the convention, an arbitration award issued in any other state can generally be freely enforced in any other contracting state, only subject to certain, limited defenses. These defenses are:[3] 

  1. a party to the arbitration agreement was, under the law applicable to him, under some incapacity, or the arbitration agreement was not valid under its governing law; 
  1. a party was not given proper notice of the appointment of the arbitrator or of the arbitration proceedings, or was otherwise unable to present its case; 
  1. the award deals with an issue not contemplated by or not falling within the terms of the submission to arbitration, or contains matters beyond the scope of the arbitration (subject to the proviso that an award which contains decisions on such matters may be enforced to the extent that it contains decisions on matters submitted to arbitration which can be separated from those matters not so submitted); 
  1. the composition of the arbitral tribunal was not in accordance with the agreement of the parties or, failing such agreement, with the law of the place where the hearing took place (the "lex loci arbitri"); 
  1. the award has not yet become binding upon the parties, or has been set aside or suspended by a competent authority, either in the country where the arbitration took place, or pursuant to the law of the arbitration agreement; 
  1. the subject matter of the award was not capable of resolution by arbitration;  
  1. or enforcement would be contrary to "public policy". 

Summary of provisions 

Under the convention, an arbitration award issued in any other state can generally be freely enforced in any other contracting state, only subject to certain, limited defenses. These defenses are:[3] 

  1. a party to the arbitration agreement was, under the law applicable to him, under some incapacity, or the arbitration agreement was not valid under its governing law; 
  1. a party was not given proper notice of the appointment of the arbitrator or of the arbitration proceedings, or was otherwise unable to present its case; 
  1. the award deals with an issue not contemplated by or not falling within the terms of the submission to arbitration, or contains matters beyond the scope of the arbitration (subject to the proviso that an award which contains decisions on such matters may be enforced to the extent that it contains decisions on matters submitted to arbitration which can be separated from those matters not so submitted); 
  1. the composition of the arbitral tribunal was not in accordance with the agreement of the parties or, failing such agreement, with the law of the place where the hearing took place (the "lex loci arbitri"); 
  1. the award has not yet become binding upon the parties, or has been set aside or suspended by a competent authority, either in the country where the arbitration took place, or pursuant to the law of the arbitration agreement; 
  1. the subject matter of the award was not capable of resolution by arbitration; or 
  1. enforcement would be contrary to "public policy". 

Additionally, there are three types of reservations that countries may apply: 

  1. Conventional Reservation – some countries only enforce arbitration awards issued in a Convention member state. 
  1. Commercial Reservation – some countries only enforce arbitration awards that are related to commercial transactions. 
  1. Reciprocity reservation – some countries may choose not to limit the convention to only awards from other contracting states, but may however limit application to awards from non-contracting states such that they will only apply it to the extent to which such a non-contracting state grants reciprocal treatment. 

States may make any or all of the above reservations. As there are two similar issues conflated under the term "reciprocity", it is important to determine which such reservation (or both) an enforcing state has made. 

Parties to the Convention 

As of January 2023, the convention has 172 state parties, which includes 169 of the 193 United Nations member states plus the Cook Islands, the Holy See, and the State of Palestine. Twenty-four UN member states have not yet adopted the convention. In addition, Taiwan has not been permitted to adopt the convention (but generally enforces foreign arbitration judgments) and a number of British Overseas Territories have not had the Convention extended to them by Order in Council. British Overseas Territories to which the New York Convention has not yet been extended by Order in Council are: Anguilla, Falkland Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, Saint Helena (including Ascension and Tristan da Cunha). 

StateDate of AdoptionStateDate of Adoption
 Afghanistan30 November 2005 Albania27 June 2001
 Algeria7 February 1989 Andorra19 June 2015
 Angola6 March 2017
 Antigua and Barbuda2 February 1989 Argentina14 March 1989
 Armenia29 December 1997 Australia26 March 1975
 Austria2 May 1961 Azerbaijan29 February 2000
 Bahamas20 December 2006 Bahrain6 April 1988
 Bangladesh6 May 1992 Barbados16 March 1993
 Belarus15 November 1960 Belgium18 August 1975
 Belize15 March 2021
 Benin16 May 1974 Bhutan25 September 2014
 Bolivia28 April 1995 Bosnia and Herzegovina1 September 1993
 Botswana20 December 1971 Brazil7 June 2002
 Brunei25 July 1996 Bulgaria10 October 1961
 Burkina Faso23 March 1987 Burundi23 June 2014
 Cambodia5 January 1960 Cameroon19 February 1988
 Canada12 May 1986 Cape Verde22 March 2018
 Central African Republic15 October 1962
 Chile4 September 1975 People's Republic of China22 January 1987
 Colombia25 September 1979 Democratic Republic of the Congo5 November 2014
 Comoros28 April 2015 Costa Rica26 October 1987
 Côte d'Ivoire1 February 1991 Cook Islands12 January 2009
 Croatia26 July 1993 Cuba30 December 1974
 Cyprus29 December 1980 Czech Republic30 September 1993
 Denmark22 December 1972 Djibouti14 June 1983
 Dominica28 October 1988 Dominican Republic11 April 2002
 Ecuador3 January 1962 Egypt9 March 1959
 El Salvador10 June 1958 Estonia30 August 1993
 Ethiopia24 August 2020 Fiji26 December 2010
 Finland19 January 1962 France26 June 1959
 Gabon15 December 2006 Georgia2 June 1994
 Germany30 June 1961 Ghana9 April 1968
 Greece16 July 1962 Guatemala21 March 1984
 Guinea23 January 1991 Guyana25 September 2014
 Haiti5 December 1983 Holy See14 May 1975
 Honduras3 October 2000 Hungary5 March 1962
 Iceland24 January 2002 India13 July 1960
 Indonesia7 October 1981 Iran15 October 2001
 Iraq11 November 2021 Ireland12 May 1981
 Israel5 January 1959 Italy31 January 1969
 Jamaica10 July 2002 Japan20 June 1961
 Jordan15 November 1979 Kazakhstan20 November 1995
 Kenya10 February 1989 South Korea8 February 1973
 Kuwait28 April 1978 Kyrgyzstan18 December 1996
 Laos17 June 1998 Latvia14 April 1992
 Lebanon11 August 1998 Lesotho13 June 1989
 Liberia16 September 2005 Lithuania14 March 1995
 Liechtenstein5 October 2011 Luxembourg9 September 1983
 Republic of Macedonia10 March 1994 Madagascar16 July 1962
 Malaysia5 November 1985 Malawi4 March 2021
 Maldives17 September 2019 Mali8 September 1994
 Malta22 June 2000 Marshall Islands21 December 2006
 Mauritania30 January 1997 Mauritius19 June 1996
 Mexico14 April 1971 Moldova18 September 1998
 Monaco2 June 1982 Mongolia24 October 1994
 Montenegro23 October 2006 Morocco12 February 1959
 Mozambique11 June 1998 Myanmar16 April 2013
   Nepal4 March 1998 Netherlands24 April 1964
 New Zealand6 January 1983 Nicaragua24 September 2003
 Niger14 October 1964 Nigeria17 March 1970
 Norway14 March 1961 Oman25 February 1999
 Pakistan14 July 2005 Palau31 March 2020
 Palestine2 January 2015 Panama10 October 1984
 Papua New Guinea17 July 2019 Paraguay8 October 1997
 Peru7 July 1988 Philippines6 July 1967
 Poland3 October 1961 Portugal18 October 1994
 Qatar30 December 2002 Romania13 September 1961
 Russia24 August 1960 Rwanda31 October 2008
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines12 September 2000 San Marino17 May 1979
 Sao Tome and Principe20 November 2012 Saudi Arabia19 April 1994
 Senegal17 October 1994 Serbia12 March 2001
 Seychelles3 February 2020 Sierra Leone28 October 2020
 Singapore21 August 1986 Slovakia28 May 1993
 Slovenia6 July 1992 South Africa3 May 1976
 Spain12 May 1977 Sri Lanka9 April 1962
 Sudan26 March 2018 Sweden28 January 1972
 Suriname10 November 2022
  Switzerland1 June 1965 Syria9 March 1959
 Tanzania13 October 1964 Tajikistan14 August 2012
 Thailand21 December 1959 Timor-Leste17 January 2023
 Tonga12 June 2020 Trinidad and Tobago14 February 1966
 Tunisia17 July 1967 Turkey2 July 1992
 Turkmenistan4 May 2022 Uganda12 February 1992
 Ukraine10 October 1960 United Arab Emirates21 August 2006
 United Kingdom24 September 1975 United States30 September 1970
 Uruguay30 March 1983 Uzbekistan7 February 1996
 Venezuela8 February 1995 Vietnam12 September 1995
 Zambia14 March 2002 Zimbabwe26 September 1994

Full Text of The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 

English version
French translation
Spanish translation
Russian translation
Mandarin translation