"Comment: Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards Subject to Local Limitation Periods - Supreme Court of Canada",
World Arbitration and Mediation Review, Institute for Transnational Arbitration, December 2010
Date:
December 1 2010
In this article, Michael Schafler comments an important decision of the Supreme Court of Canada clarifying what, if any, time limits may apply to the enforcement of a foreign arbitral award in Canada. The Court has held that, for these purposes, the imposition of a time limit is a procedural rule permitted by Article III of the 1958 Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “New York Convention”). Consequently, the question whether the enforcement of an arbitration award is subject to any time limit depends on the wording of any limitations legislation in the Province where the award is sought to be enforced.
The Supreme Court has – at least for the time being – resisted the opportunity to pronounce that arbitral awards are at least functionally equivalent to judgments. On the other hand, the Court has clarified what until now had been an arguably ambiguous issue and promulgated clear rules.
The article initially appeared in World Arbitration and Mediation Review, Institute for Transnational Arbitration, December 2010.
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