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In a decision confirming a flexible and pragmatic approach to the enforcement of international arbitration awards, the Court of Appeal has ruled that the English courts have the power to enforce parts of international arbitration awards under the New York Convention and the English Arbitration Act 1996.
In Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation v IPCO (Nigeria) Limited1 the English Court of Appeal said that, since the purpose of the New York Convention is to "ensure the effective and speedy enforcement of international arbitration awards", arbitration awards could be enforced in part.
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation ("NNPC"), the state oil company of Nigeria, and IPCO (Nigeria) Limited ("IPCO"), a Nigerian subsidiary of a Hong Kong registered company, were in dispute regarding a contract to design and construct a petroleum export terminal. IPCO claimed that NNPC made substantial variations to the agreed scope of works, causing delays to the project. The resulting claims were referred to arbitration in Lagos under the provisions of the contract, and IPCO were ultimately awarded USD 152million on its claims.
While proceedings before the Nigerian Federal High Court to set aside the award were outstanding, IPCO applied for enforcement in England. The English High Court gave judgment for the enforcement of the award in respect of two of IPCO's six heads of claim.
NNPC appealed the decision, arguing that the Court had no jurisdiction to enforce part of the award, and that the Court must wait until the Nigerian proceedings had been determined before considering enforcement.
Considering Articles III, V and VI of the New York Convention and the related provisions of the Arbitration Act 1996,2 the Court held that "award" means "the award or part of it". An all or nothing approach to the enforcement of arbitration awards was rejected as being inconsistent with the purpose of the New York Convention, "provided the part to be enforced can be ascertained from the face of the award and judgment can be given in the same terms as those in the award."
Footnotes
1 [2008] EWCA Civ 1157
2 Sections 100 to 103.
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