LEBANON Law and Practice Contributed by: Nayla Comair-Obeid, Ziad Obeid and Zeina Obeid, Obeid & Partners
13.3 Circumstances to Challenge an Arbitral Award As a preliminary note, the LCCP makes a distinc- tion between domestic and international arbitration, the latter being governed by more flexible rules. The means of recourse against domestic awards are broader than the means of recourse available against international awards, as further outlined below. Domestic Arbitration Domestic awards can be challenged through the fol- lowing means of recourse: • third-party opposition – third-party opposition is available before the court originally having jurisdic- tion to rule over the dispute in the absence of an arbitration agreement; • appeal – appeal against a domestic award is per- missible unless the parties have waived their right to appeal in the arbitration agreement (Article 799 of the LCCP). However, arbitral awards rendered ex aequo et bono are not subject to appeal unless the parties have expressly reserved that right in the arbitration agreement, in which case the court of appeal reviews the case as an absolute arbitrator (Article 799 of the LCCP); • retrial – a request for retrial may be brought under the same conditions that apply to court judgments before the Court of Appeal in whose jurisdiction the award was rendered. The decision of the Court of Appeal may, in turn, be challenged by way of cas- sation and third-party opposition (Article 808 of the LCCP); and • annulment – a motion to set aside a domestic award is exclusively available in the circumstances enumerated under Article 800 of the LCCP. The grounds for annulling awards in domestic arbi- tration are set out under Article 800 of the LCCP, as follows: • the award is rendered without an arbitration agree- ment or on the basis of an agreement that is null or void due to the expiry of the relevant time limit for rendering the award; • the award is rendered by arbitrators who were not appointed in accordance with the law;
The LCCP covers the conduct of arbitration proceed- ings as well as the enforcement and recognition of arbitral awards. In addition, Lebanon is a signatory to the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (NY Con- vention) and the 1965 Washington Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States. 13.2 Subject Matters Not Referred to Arbitration Under Lebanese law, the following types of disputes are non-arbitrable and are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of Lebanese national courts: • disputes related to personal status (nationality, age, adoption, divorce and marriage). However, dis- putes relating to monetary compensation resulting from personal status disputes remain arbitrable; • disputes related to non-negotiable personal rights such as the right to physical integrity, human dig- nity, privacy and the right to food. However, similar to personal status, any dispute relating to monetary compensation associated with those personal rights is arbitrable; • disputes related to public policy matters, includ- ing all matters considered by law as guaranteeing social, economic or political interests; • disputes arising from insolvency proceedings – as provided by Article 490 of the Code of Commerce, state courts have exclusive jurisdiction in insol- vency matters; • labour and social security disputes, which fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Lebanese Labour Arbitral Council; and • commercial representation disputes, which fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of Lebanese courts pursuant to Decree Law No 34, dated 5 August 1967. However, it should be noted that in recent years the Lebanese courts have adopted a more permissible stance towards the arbitrability of such disputes in specific circumstances (eg, when the arbitral tribunal is required to apply Lebanese law on the merits).
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