FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Kyum Lee, Florian Dessault, Hannah Cobbett and Claire Gonzalez, BDGS Associés
The award must also indicate the identity of the par - ties and their counsel, and of the arbitrators, and the date and the place where it was rendered (Article 1481 of the French Civil Procedure Code). The award is rendered by a majority vote of arbitrators and signed by the arbitrators. However, if there is no majority, the award shall be made by the chairperson of the arbitral tribunal alone. Moreover, if one of the arbitrators refuses to sign, it is mentioned in the award (Article 1513 of the French Civil Procedure Code). 10.2 Types of Remedies French law does not provide specific rules governing or restricting the types of remedies that an arbitral tribunal may award. Thus, all types of remedies are available provided that they are not contrary to inter - national public order. In this regard, it should be noted that punitive damag - es are not per se contrary to international public order provided that the amount allocated is not “dispropor - tionate regarding the damage suffered and the breach of contractual obligations” ( Cour de cassation , First Civil Chamber, 1 December 2010, No 09-13.303; Cour de cassation , First Civil Chamber, 12 January 2022, No 20-16.189; Paris Court of Appeal, 25 February 2020, No 17/18001). 10.3 Recovering Interest and Legal Costs French law does not provide any rules governing or prohibiting the recovery of interest and legal costs. In international arbitration, an award is not subject to appeal. International arbitration awards rendered in France may be set aside unless the parties have waived their right to bring such action by special agreement (Articles 1518 and 1522 of the French Civil Procedure Code). However, international arbitration awards rendered abroad cannot be challenged by set- aside proceedings in France. The grounds for setting aside an award are exhaus - tively listed in Article 1520 and include: 11. Review of an Award 11.1 Grounds for Appeal
• the arbitral tribunal wrongly upheld or declined its jurisdiction; • the arbitral tribunal was improperly constituted; • the arbitral tribunal ruled without complying with the mission entrusted to it; • the principle of adversarial proceeding was vio - lated; or • recognition and enforcement of the arbitral award is contrary to international public policy. In international arbitration, the set-aside request must be brought before the Court of Appeal of Paris regard - less of the seat and, in domestic arbitration, before the Court of Appeal in whose jurisdiction the award was made – in both cases within one month of service of the decision (extended to three months for parties located abroad) (Articles 1494 and 1519 of the French Civil Procedure Code). 11.2 Excluding/Expanding the Scope of Appeal Under French law, the parties may not derogate from the provisions governing arbitration appeals ( Cour de cassation , First Civil Chamber, 13 March 2007, No 04-10.970). Thus, in international arbitration, parties cannot include a right to appeal the award in their arbitration agreement. Such a clause is deemed not written ( Cour de cassation , First Civil Chamber, 13 March 2007, No 04-10.970). Parties may waive their right to request to set aside the award by special agreement. 11.3 Standard of Judicial Review As international arbitral awards cannot be appealed, French courts have applied the strict principle of non- revision of awards for many years. The standard of judicial review in set-aside proceed - ings has recently been reinforced by the Cour de cassation , which stated that, while the mission of the Court of Appeal is limited to the examination of the defects listed in Article 1520 of the French Civil Pro - cedure Code (incompetence of the arbitral tribunal; irregular constitution; non-compliance with the arbitral tribunal’s terms of reference; breach of the adversarial principle; and conflict with international public policy), no limitation is placed on its power to investigate in
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