JERSEY Law and Practice Contributed by: Marcus Pallot and Eleanor Davies, Carey Olsen
domestic award. Jersey has been a party to the New York Convention since 2002. In addition, the Law provides that awards under the Geneva 1927 Convention are also enforceable. Awards from the International Centre of the Settle- ment of Investment Disputes are enforceable under the Arbitration (International Investment Disputes) (Jersey) Order 1979. 13.2 Subject Matters Not Referred to Arbitration Criminal matters may not be referred to arbitration. In addition, it is possible that the existence of an arbi- tration clause will not prevent certain legal processes (eg, an application for désastre ) from being pursued. 13.3 Circumstances to Challenge an Arbitral Award The court is generally supportive of, and upholds, arbitral awards. There are no specific provisions in the Arbitration Law for setting aside or refusing to enforce domestic awards. However, an arbitral award may not be enforceable if the court considers that the defendant was not given proper notice of the arbitra- tion proceedings and, therefore, that the award was improperly procured, or where there was a procedural flaw. Similarly, where there is a pending challenge to an award, the court will also not enforce it. The court can set aside enforcement of foreign awards where the conditions for enforcement set out in Article 37 of the Arbitration Law are not met. These include the following conditions: • The award must have been made in accordance with the applicable arbitration procedure. • The defendant was given proper notice of the arbi- tration proceedings. • The award was not improperly procured. • There was no procedural flaw. • The award was final. It is also a requirement that the award be made in respect of a matter which may lawfully be referred to arbitration under Jersey law.
The court will only review a domestic award if an appeal is made on a point of law and, even then, only if the parties have not excluded appeal rights. The court will not review a foreign award unless it is clearly invalid or unenforceable. 13.4 Procedure for Enforcing Domestic and Foreign Arbitration The enforcement of both foreign and domestic arbitral awards requires the leave of the court. Foreign arbitral awards must satisfy some basic criteria of enforce- ment (eg, concerning the validity of the arbitration process and award). The time limit for enforcement of domestic awards is ten years from the date of the award. The time limit for the enforcement of foreign awards is determined with reference to the rules of the foreign arbitration/ jurisdiction. There are no specific procedural rules governing the enforcement of domestic or foreign arbitral awards, but the Arbitration Law allows them to be enforced in the same manner as a domestic judgment. As to the form of the arbitral awards, applications for enforcement must specify the proposed manner of enforcement. Typically, at least a copy of the award and the underlying arbitration agreement will be included with the application. The exact evidence and information required depends on the type of award and the Arbitration Law sets out requirements specific to whether a foreign award falls outside the New York Convention or not. Where the leave of the court is granted, the act of court will specify the manner of enforcement. Enforce- ment options are the same as those set out in 9.4 Enforcement Mechanisms of a Domestic Judgment . 14. Outlook 14.1 Proposals for Dispute Resolution Reform There are no major pending proposals for dispute resolution reform in Jersey. The RCR are regularly reviewed by a committee.
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