The Guide on the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards provides a detailed analysis of the judicial interpretation and application of the New York Convention by reference to case law from 45 Contracting States. The Guide, and the newyorkconvention1958.org website which supplements it, will become an essential tool that benefits all those involved in the interpretation and application of the New York Convention, including judges, arbitrators, practitioners, academics and Government officials. The Guide gives clear expression to the principal finding of extensive research, namely, that the Contracting States have interpreted and applied the New York Convention in an overwhelmingly consistent manner and that courts have diverged from the general trends in the case law in only isolated instances. As such, the Convention continues to fulfill its purpose of facilitating the worldwide recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards to the greatest extent possible.

A judicial interference in the enforcement of arbitral awards is required in a case of non-compliance with the award by any relevant party. From the both practical and theoretical viewpoint courts of all jurisdictions may refuse to enforce arbitral awards if such enforcement would be contrary to the public policy of their countries. This is known as 'the public policy defense to the enforcement of arbitral awards'. The legal rationale for the public policy defense is established in the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958 and the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration 1985, which are two of the most important international legal documents in promoting and regulating international commercial arbitration. The public policy defense is one of the most controversial exceptions to the enforcement of arbitral awards, causing judicial inconsistency, therefore unpredictability in its implementation. The present research paper explores the main controversies and complexities in the judicial implementation of the public policy defense from comparative perspective of both developed and developing countries.

The Guide on the New York Convention provides an insight on the application of the Convention by State courts.

Widely regarded as the most important ground for refusal under the 1958 United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Convention), Article V(1)(b), commonly referred to as the ‘due process’ clause, is interpreted in diverse ways across jurisdictions. This book not only thoroughly examines the variety of approaches to the clause adopted by different national courts but also presents a particular understanding of the transnational approach to the due process defence grounded in the interpretative framework of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Drawing on insights and methods from comparative law that consider not only national legal systems but also international commercial arbitration and other international legal regimes, the author specifically leverages the principle of audiatur et altera pars and subsequent state practice. Among the matters examined are the following: threshold requirements for the due process defence; policy considerations of and relevant limits to the interpretation and application of the due process defence; proper notice of the appointment of the arbitrator or of the arbitration proceedings; opportunity to present a case and equal treatment; and the lex arbitri, lex fori, and uniform transnational approaches to the applicable law for the due process defence. The book includes a detailed comparative analysis of numerous domestic judicial decisions across jurisdictions. A comprehensive bibliography includes references to cases, awards, treaties, UN Documents, legislation, institutional rules, and soft laws. The book shows clearly how an understanding of transnational due process grounded in the interpretative framework mandated by international law can contribute to the uniform interpretation and application of Article V(1)(b), thus contributing to debates on the decentralised interpretation of international law by domestic courts. Resolving a range of practical questions about the precise content of the due process defence, the book’s stable and principled framework for interpreting the due process defence will be greatly appreciated by arbitration professionals. Judges will benefit from its endorsement of international judicial cooperation through the recognition and consideration of foreign court decisions, fostering a more harmonised interpretation of the New York Convention.