LEBANON Law and Practice Contributed by: Mohamed Alem, Mazen Ghosn and Rana Kahwagi, Alem & Associates
In accordance with Article VII(1) of the New York Convention, Lebanese courts consider that the New York Convention is applicable only if its provisions are more favourable than national law (Lebanese Court of Cassation, 29 November 2001, Decision 146/2001). Accordingly, Lebanese courts tend to consider that the NCPC provides a more favourable regime than the New York Convention with respect to the recognition and enforcement of awards. In particular, Article 814 of the NCPC excludes the recognition and enforce - ment of awards that are manifestly contrary to interna - tional public policy, whereas Article V(2)(b) of the New York Convention excludes awards that are contrary to public policy of the country in which recognition and enforcement are sought, which is much broader than international public policy. 12.2 Enforcement Procedure The enforcement of international arbitral awards is subject to the same rules that govern the enforcement of domestic arbitral awards following the express ref - erence found in Article 815 of the NCPC to Articles 793 to 797 of the NCPC. Pursuant to Article 795 of the NCPC, as clarified by the Lebanese courts, the President of the Court of First Instance of Beirut is responsible for issuing the order granting exequatur to international arbitral awards. If the dispute is of an administrative nature, the enforce - ment order must be issued by the President of the Lebanese State Council (Article 795 (2) of the NCPC). The party requesting an enforcement order has the sole burden of proving the existence of the arbitral award for which the order is requested (Article 814 of the NCPC). For this purpose, the party must submit originals or authenticated copies of the award and the arbitration agreement. There are no other formal requirements. Enforcement orders are issued by Lebanese judges, unless the arbitral award for which the order is sought is manifestly contrary to international public policy (Article 814 (1) of the NCPC). Set-Aside Proceedings With regard to the impact of the annulment procedure in the seat of arbitration on the enforcement of awards
in Lebanon, although there is not yet a judicial decision similar to the French Hilmarton decision accepting that an arbitral award can be enforced notwithstand - ing its annulment in the seat of arbitration, the condi - tions for such a solution are said to be already present in Lebanese jurisprudence (M Maamari, L’exécution des sentences arbitrales étrangères et des sentences rendues localement en droit libanais , page 19). In view of the foregoing, it is reasonable to assume that Lebanese courts would not readily be prepared to stay enforcement proceedings pending resolution of the seat proceedings. However, the position may vary depending on the proximity of the award to the seat of the arbitration. Moreover, since Article 796 (2) expressly refers to Article 800 of the NCPC, it can be argued that in order to be granted exequatur, the arbitral award for which exequatur is sought must not violate any of the grounds for annulment mentioned under 11.1 Grounds for Appeal , and must contain all mandatory information, including the claims of the parties and the reasons and means in support thereof, the name(s) of the arbitrator(s), the reasoning and the operative part, the date, and the signature of the arbitrator(s). The ref - erence to Article 800 of the NCPC may also justify that the arbitral award for which the order is sought must comply with the rules of public policy. However, this may conflict with Article 814 (1) of the NCPC, which refers only to a manifest violation of international pub - lic policy as the sole test for justifying the grant or refusal of exequatur for an international arbitral award. As discussed in 12.3 Approach of the Courts , Leba- nese case law has mitigated the inconsistency arising from the provisions of Article 796 (2) of the NCPC. Enforcement Orders Once an enforcement order has been issued for an international arbitral award rendered outside Lebanon, the award debtor may appeal against the order before the court of appeal. International arbitral awards are subject only to annulment proceedings (see 11.1 Grounds for Appeal ). In any case, if the enforcement order has been refused, the applicant may appeal against the order before the court of appeal (Article 816 of the NCPC).
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