Author: Tyler B. Robinson*
Published: May 2013
Description: The United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards1 (the “New York Convention” or “Convention”) governs the recognition and enforcement in the United States of foreign arbitral awards made in other treaty-signatory states. The New York Convention, implemented by Chapter 2 of the Federal Arbitration Act, has the force and effect of federal law. By its terms, the New York Convention broadly favors the enforceability of foreign arbitral awards, subject to limited enumerated defenses to enforcement concerned with arbitral jurisdiction, the procedural fairness of the arbitral proceedings that resulted in the award, and public policy considerations. The recognition and enforcement of foreign money judgments in the United States is governed by the law of the individual states.
*Tyler B. Robinson is a partner of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. The author would like to thank Michelle Hertz for her invaluable research assistance on this article.