Recent High Court decision affirms Australia’s reputation as a pro-arbitration and pro-enforcement jurisdiction

The High Court of Australia handed down a decision in the matter of Kingdom of Spain v Infrastructure Services Luxembourg S.a.r.l. on Wednesday that reaffirmed Australia's reputation as supportive of arbitration in international disputes.

A key point of discussion in the matter on lead up to the decision was how the decision could affect Australia’s standing in the world of international arbitration. If the Court had found that the award was not enforceable, this might have led to the precedent or at least a perception that foreign awards would be difficult or impossible to enforce in Australia. The recent High Court decision affirms and even bolsters Australia’s reputation as a pro-arbitration and pro-enforcement jurisdiction.

When seeking to enforce foreign awards, we have found that the importance of giving proper notice cannot be overstated. This is particularly true in jurisdictions (such as China under the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) Rules) where the arbitration tribunal has the responsibility to give notice to the affected parties and does not pass that responsibility onto the applicant.

To read more about the importance of proper notice when seeking to enforce a foreign arbitration award, please click here to read the article in English or click here to read the article in Mandarin. To discuss your own situation in more detail, please contact Bo Zhou of Madgwicks on 9242 4742.