In Dallah v. Pakistan, the English High Court refused to enforce against Pakistan an award rendered by an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) tribunal in Paris, on the basis that Pakistan was not a party to the underlying arbitration agreement. Interestingly, it reached that conclusion based on the same French test which had been applied by the arbitral tribunal to reach precisely the opposite conclusion. The High Court’s judgment provides a useful opportunity to consider a number of issues concerning the enforcement of New York Convention awards against non-signatories, and to reflect on possible disadvantages of the French “direct” approach to arbitration agreements (i.e., reviewing them independently of any applicable law).
Journal of International Arbitration