USA Law and Practice Contributed by: Matthew Kirtland, Timothy Tyler, Katie Connolly and Taylor LeMay, Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP
11.2 Excluding/Expanding the Scope of Appeal Parties cannot expand the scope of judicial review or challenge under the FAA. 11.3 Standard of Judicial Review Under the FAA, courts in the United States do not review the merits of a case. This applies to interna - tional arbitrations seated inside the United States and to foreign awards for which enforcement is sought under the New York or Panama Conventions, or the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (ICSID Convention). Review is only for the reasons stated in 11.1 Grounds for Appeal and 12.3 Approach of the Courts . 12. Enforcement of an Award 12.1 New York Convention The US is a party to the 1958 New York Convention, with two reservations: • first, the reciprocity reservation means that the US only applies the Convention to recognise and enforce awards made in the territory of another state party to the Convention; and • second, the commercial reservation means that the US only applies the Convention to “differences arising out of legal relationships” that are consid - ered commercial under US domestic law. The US is also a party to the Panama Convention and the ICSID Convention. The Panama Convention contains a reciprocity reservation that mirrors the US reservation in the New York Convention. In addition, the US is party to multilateral and bilateral treaties that contain arbitration provisions. 12.2 Enforcement Procedure In order for an arbitral award to be enforced by US courts of the United States, it must be “confirmed” (ie, recognised) by a court with jurisdiction.
Domestic Awards If the parties have agreed in their arbitration agree - ment that a judgment of the court shall be entered upon the award, the FAA provides a summary pro - cedure whereby an award “shall” be confirmed if it is requested within one year of issuance, unless the award is vacated, modified or corrected. International Awards Chapter 2 of the FAA incorporates the provisions of the New York Convention, and provides for similar summary proceedings: “ Within three years after an arbitral award falling under the [ New York ] Convention is made , any party to the arbitration may apply to any court having jurisdic- tion under this chapter for an order confirming the award as against any other party to the arbitration . The court shall confirm the award unless it finds one of the grounds for refusal or deferral of recognition or enforcement of the award specified in the said Con - vention .” Execution of Award Once a party has confirmed an arbitral award, they have in hand an enforceable US court judgment, which they can attempt to execute against the judg - ment debtor’s assets. Such execution procedures are governed by the applicable rules of both federal and state courts. 12.3 Approach of the Courts US courts routinely enforce international arbitration awards. Under the New York Convention as imple - mented by Chapter 2 of the FAA, or the Panama Convention as implemented by Chapter 3 of the FAA, a court can refuse enforcement on the following grounds: • party incapacity; • invalid arbitration agreement; • the procedure before the arbitral tribunal was affected by procedural unfairness; • the award deals with issues falling outside the scope of the submission to arbitration; • the composition of the arbitral authority or the arbitral procedure was not in accordance with the
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