Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards: How Effective is Article V of the New York Convention of 1958?

Charles Chaterjee, ,
Anna Lefcovitch, Solicitor, Arcadis LLP

It is precisely fifty-eight years ago that the Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (otherwise known as the New York Convention) was concluded. Since then the global legal and judicial environments have significantly changed. The newly born States have by now developed their own legal and judicial environments which in the majority of cases are very dissimilar to those of the Western States. Additionally, their aspirations of a total non-dependence on any political or legal or judicial systems often work counter to the provisions and objectives of Article V of the Convention. Most of the published works support, in the main, the importance of the provisions of Article V of the Convention in respect of commercial arbitrations that have been taking place, particularly, in Africa and Asia. This Article suggests that certain amendments to the provisions of Article V of the Convention should be made irrespective of the circumstantial changes that have already taken place rather than rigidly adhering to them.