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International
Commercial Arbitration
(Third Edition)
Bibliographic
reference
'Part III: International Arbitral
Awards', in Gary B. Born ,
International Commercial
Arbitration (Third Edition),
3rd edition (© Kluwer Law
International; Kluwer Law
International 2021) pp. 3139 -
3142
Part III: International Arbitral Awards
The final steps in the arbitral process involve the arbitral award. Once the arbitral proceedings are
concluded, the tribunal will deliberate and make a final award, granting (or withholding) relief on the
parties’ claims and resolving their dispute. Arbitral awards are not “advisory” recommendations;
rather, awards are final and binding legal instruments, having immediate legal effects and creating
immediate rights and obligations for the parties. (1)
With the making of the final award, the arbitral tribunal’s original mandate concludes. The tribunal
becomes functus officio and its remaining responsibilities, and powers, are highly circumscribed.
Further actions with respect to the award, including any post-award proceedings, are almost always
matters for the parties and national courts, and not for the arbitral tribunal. (2)
In practice, the vast majority of awards in international commercial arbitrations are voluntarily
complied with, without the need for post-award enforcement proceedings. Nevertheless, one (or
both) parties sometimes reject the arbitral tribunal’s decisions, and refuse to pay amounts awarded
or otherwise to comply with the tribunal’s award. In these circumstances, post-award proceedings
will ensue, either challenging or seeking to enforce the award.
International arbitration conventions and national arbitration legislation provides a robust, “pro-
enforcement” legal framework governing post-award proceedings. This legal framework permits
parties to seek limited revisions of arbitral awards, in proceedings before the arbitral tribunal to
“correct” or “interpret” its award, but only in very narrow circumstances. (3) This framework also
permits the award-debtor to challenge the arbitral award, in proceedings before the courts of the
arbitral seat to “annul” or “set aside” the award, but again only in defined and limited circumstances.
(4)
At the same time, the legal framework for international arbitral awards permits the award-creditor to
commence proceedings in the courts of the arbitral seat to “confirm” or “recognize” the award (i.e.,
to obtain exequatur). The successful confirmation of the award will usually provide the basis for the
entry of a judgment of the local national court based upon the underlying award. (5) After confirmation
of an award in the arbitral seat, the resulting judgment can be “confirmed” or “recognized,” and then
“enforced” in local courts in the arbitral seat, with enforcement typically occurring in the same
manner as a domestic court judgment. (6) In addition, an award can also be taken by the award-
creditor to a state outside the arbitral seat, to be “recognized” (and then “enforced”) in the courts of
that state, without first being confirmed or recognized in the arbitral seat. Recognition of a foreign
arbitral award occurs in the form of a local national court judgment, which gives the award full legal
force within the local legal system (in the same manner that a foreign judgment is recognized). (7)
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Once the award is recognized in a foreign state, the resulting judgment can then ordinarily be given
effect in the local courts of that state in the same manner as a judgment of that state’s courts. This
includes coercively “enforcing” or “executing” the award/judgment against the assets of the
award/judgment-debtor, in accordance with local legislation and rules governing the execution and
enforcement of judgment. (8) It also includes giving the award/judgment preclusive effect in the courts
of the foreign state, presumptively in accordance with local legislation regarding the preclusive
effects of foreign awards and/or judgments. (9)
The Chapters in this Part address the status, effects and treatment of arbitral awards in international
commercial arbitration.
Chapter 22 discusses the legal framework applicable to international arbitral awards. It introduces
the legal effects of international awards and the post-award proceedings that are available to
correct, interpret, supplement, confirm, recognize, annul and recognize such awards. The Chapter
also examines the “jurisdictional” requirements which are applicable to determine when the pro-
enforcement legal framework of the New York Convention and national arbitration legislation will be
applicable to international arbitral awards. The Chapter also discusses the limitations that this
international legal framework places on the forums in which actions to recognize and to annul
international arbitral awards may be brought.
Chapter 23 discusses the form and content of international arbitral awards. Among other things, the
Chapter addresses the requirements under contemporary national arbitration statutes concerning
the form and publication of arbitral awards, including requirements that awards be in writing, signed,
dated, and identifying the place of arbitration. It also discusses the requirement, in many legal
systems, that international arbitral awards be “reasoned.” Finally, the Chapter examines the
treatment of relief, costs and interest in international arbitral awards.
Chapter 24 discusses the correction, interpretation and supplementation of international arbitral
 awards. It first discusses the “functus officio” doctrine, defining the arbitrators’ limited mandate,
which terminates after making a final award. The Chapter also discusses the circumstances in
which corrections, interpretations and supplementations of awards can be obtained under
contemporary national arbitration laws and institutional arbitration rules.
Chapter 25 examines the setting aside or annulment of international arbitral awards. It addresses
the judicial forums in which annulment or setting aside can be sought, and the permissible
standards for granting such relief, under both international arbitration conventions and leading
national arbitration legislation. The Chapter also discusses the various substantive grounds which
are available for setting aside an award, as well as the legal consequences of setting aside an
award. Finally, the Chapter examines the interpretation and enforcement of agreements providing
for heightened (or reduced) standards of judicial review of arbitral awards in annulment
proceedings.
Chapter 26 discusses the recognition and enforcement of international arbitral awards. It examines
the proof of arbitral awards and the presumptive obligation of national courts, under most
international arbitration conventions and national arbitration statutes, to recognize and enforce
foreign arbitral awards. It also discusses the exceptions to this presumptive obligation
P 3141
to recognize foreign awards, including on grounds of lack of jurisdiction, procedural defects, bias of
the arbitrators, public policy and nonarbitrability. The Chapter concludes by examining the
suspension of proceedings seeking recognition of foreign awards when an application to annul the
award is pending in the arbitral seat.
Finally, Chapter 27 discusses the role of preclusion in international arbitration, including principles
of res judicata and collateral (or issue) estoppel. It considers the preclusive effects of arbitral
awards, in both national court proceedings and arbitral proceedings, as well as the preclusive
effects of national court judgments in arbitral proceedings. The Chapter also discusses application
of lis pendens principles in international arbitration. Finally, the Chapter examines the role of
precedent and stare decisis in international arbitration.
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References
1)
See §22.01[A].
2)
See §22.01[B].
3)
See, e.g., UNCITRAL Model Law, Art. 34.
4)
See, e.g., id. at Art. 33; §25.04.
5)
See, e.g., UNCITRAL Model Law, Arts. 35-36; §22.01[B][3].
6)
See, e.g., New York Convention, Arts. III-V; UNCITRAL Model Law, Arts. 35, 36; §22.01[B][3].
7)
See §22.01_[B][5]; §26.03. As discussed below, one of the fundamental reforms of the New York
Convention was to remove the requirement of “double exequatur,” which had required an award to
be confirmed in the arbitral seat before it could be recognized or enforced abroad. Under the New
York Convention, an award is capable of recognition outside the arbitral seat even if it has not been
recognized or confirmed in the arbitral seat. See §26.03[B][4].
8)
See §22.01[B][6].
9)
See §22.01_[B][7]; §27.01.

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