How to enforce an arbitration tribunal award issued?

Arbitration act is the most appropriate method for international trade disputes settlement, as the parties to the arbitration have wide powers in organizing the arbitration dispute, the manner of the arbitration process, the rules governing it, the form of the arbitration institution, the number of members of the institution.

And they are free to a selection of the arbitrator personality and specifications that should be available to him and in determining the period of the final judgment of the dispute that should be issued as they hold the control on all over the arbitration until issue the judgment of the dispute and enforced.

There is no doubt that these authorities do not exist in the dispute before courts, which is characterized by mandatory regulation that the parties cannot agree on contradicting it.

Free determination

However, the parties to the arbitration dispute are free in determining the legal rules that apply to the litigation procedures in the dispute, and despite that, the arbitration award in most countries all over the world is final binding, and enforceable judgment after fulfilling the procedural conditions required by the law, there are some regulations which followed by the arbitrators within the Arab Republic of Egypt to enforce the arbitration award.

Egyptian arbitration law and court

Whereas the Egyptian legislator has organized to enforce an arbitration tribunal award in the Egyptian Arbitration Law No. 27 of 1994, which stipulates that if the arbitration is subject matter to the provisions of the Egyptian Arbitration Law, it is sufficient for enforcement such award by obtaining an order for enforcement the arbitration award from the president of the competent court.

This court differs according to the type of arbitration. If the arbitration is international commercial arbitration, the jurisdiction shall be held by the court stipulated in article 9 of the aforementioned arbitration law, and if the arbitration is a local arbitration, the jurisdiction shall be held by the originally competent court according to applicable laws.

Noticing that the competent Egyptian judge, according to what has been explained, does not have the right to amend or nullify the judgment, and also he has no right to suspend the execution until made a decision on the appeal submitted to the judgment in another court.

This judgment is not subject to appeal by ordinary or extraordinary means to appeal against judgments, and it is only permissible to file a lawsuit disproving this judgment before the High Court of Appeal or the court of the second degree, depending on the nature of the dispute.

It is evident that the Egyptian legislator has added the full powers to the judgments issued by the arbitrators, and thus these rulings have the same validity as the judicial one, as they have the possibility of enforcing them by force.

The Egyptian legislator

The legislator requires the arbitration tribunal to deliver to the parties a copy of the arbitration award signed by the arbitrators within thirty days from the date of its issuance.

The party that the arbitration award issued for his benefit shall complete specific procedures in order to be able to necessarily enforce an arbitration tribunal award with the help of public authority men.

These procedures are:

1. Deposit the judgment with the clerk of the competent court.
2. The expiration of the date for filing a lawsuit refuting consider the judgment.
3. Issuing the record to enforce the judgment from the president of the competent court.

Arbitral proceedings

The party seeking that the arbitration award issued to him must deposit the original judgment or a copy of it in the language in which it issued or a translation in Arabic certified by an accredited authority if it issued in a foreign language, in the clerk’s office of the competent court. And the clerk of the court shall write a report of this deposit, both parties to the arbitration may request to obtain a copy of this record.

The request to enforce an arbitration tribunal award is not acceptable if the date for filing a lawsuit to invalidate the judgment has passed – ninety days from the date on which the other party is notified of the judgment.

With regard to the procedures for issuing a record for the enforcement of the arbitration award, Article 56 of the Egyptian Arbitration Law does not stipulate the necessity for the expiration date for filing a lawsuit to invalidate the award and then can issue this record upon issuance of the arbitration award. (The date for filing a lawsuit to invalidate the judgment has not passed, which is ninety days from the date of the arbitration award for the ruling against other parties).

The flexibility and the speed in the arbitration award enforcement

This is because the Egyptian legislator has to take into his account the flexibility and the speed in the arbitration award enforcement between the parties as much as possible as follows:

1- If the date has not expired for filing a nullity lawsuit, he shall not accept the request for the execution of the judgment, then filing a nullity lawsuit does not prevent the request for the execution of the judgment and the reference is that the court has the authority to balance the interests of the two parties.

2- The basic principle is that the parties can request the execution of the judgment despite the filing of a nullity lawsuit. Filing a nullity lawsuit does not result in stopping the enforcement of the arbitration award by force of law. Nevertheless, the court can order a stop of enforcement of the arbitration award, but with certain restrictions, which is:

• That the plaintiff request this in the summons.
• That the request for a stop of execution based on serious reasons.

Noted the following:

• The court shall decide on the request for a stop of execution within sixty days from the date of the first court session set for its consideration.
• If the court ordered a stay of execution, the court may oblige the plaintiff to submit a bond or a financial guarantee.
• If the court orders the stop of execution of the judgment, it shall decide on the nullity case within six months from the date of this order.

Noted that if the file of the lawsuit is invalid and the court agrees to the request for a stop of execution, can not request the execution of the judgment until deciding the decision on the nullity case by rejection.

As for how to appeal the order refusing the execution?

It is permissible for the applicant to file an appeal against the refusal of execution order issued by the Egyptian judge who examines the arbitration award invalid after the one-party submits his lawsuit, including the request to suspend the execution, to the Cairo Court of Appeal or any other Egyptian court of appeal agreed upon by the parties within thirty days from the date of issuance of the order by refusing to enforcement in accordance with the aforementioned article.

Consequently, the Egyptian legislator has done his best to ensure that the provisions concluded in the arbitration agreement are binding on its parties, whether the arbitration document is a contract that includes the requirement to resort to arbitration or through the arbitration stipulation signed between the parties and to ensure the enforcement of those awards in the manner followed by law within the judicial execution.