Enforcement in Pakistan of a Foreign Judgment Confirming Arbitral Award:Parallel Entitlement Approach

Abstract

A foreign arbitral award may be enforced against whom it has been made by filing a suit on that award in the country of its rendition and obtain a judgment confirming it and thereafter to enforce the foreign judgment against the judgment debtor in another country. This may not only happen in a situation when award holder pleads to confirm the award in the country where the award has been made but also in a situation where award debtor seeks to annul the award in a country where it has been made and consequential dismissal of annulment proceedings may ispo facto operate as confirmation of award — such as is the practice of France. In each of the aforesaid situations there is a judgment confirming and upholding the award and the award itself as well. So, there are two entitlements — judgment confirming the award and the award itself.

This write-up firstly approaches this issue by looking into the USA practice. Then German approach has been discussed. Thereafter, the practice of Pakistan is discussed with some detail. In the last, all the debate is summed up with conclusion and recommendations