Recognition and grounds for refusal of a panamanian “non-final”? Arbitral award before Spanish Courts

comments on the court Order nº176/2020 of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia of 10 March 2021

Abstract

This Court Order rendered by the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia rules in favor of the claimant bestowing the recognition of a foreign arbitral award decreed by the Panamanian Arbitral Court in 2019. However, the particularity of this arbitral award is founded in its legal nature. It was invoked by the defendant that the award was a non-final and therefore a non-binding award. In this resolution, this Spanish Superior Court explains with detail the grounds for refusal set out under the international rules on recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards, viz., the 1958 New York Convention as well as of developed Spanish precedents regarding the interpretation of these refusal grounds. Besides, it shows the recurrent tendency of the Spanish Superior Courts of Justice for recognizing arbitral awards, rather than denial.