EGYPT Law and Practice Contributed by: Amr A Abbas, Ahmed Abdel Hakeem, Khaled Abou El Wafa and Adham Ahmed Saied, Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy
arbitral award from the successful party (Article 54 of the Arbitration Law). Grounds for Annulment Article 53 (1) of the Arbitration Law sets out an exhaus - tive list of the grounds for the annulment of arbitral awards. It stipulates that an arbitral award may be annulled only: • if there is no arbitration agreement, if it was void, voidable, or its duration had elapsed; • if either party to the arbitration agreement was at the time of the conclusion of the arbitration agree - ment fully or partially incapacitated according to the law governing its legal capacity; • if either party to the arbitration was unable to pre - sent its case as a result of not being given proper notice of the appointment of an arbitrator or of the arbitral proceedings, or for any other reason beyond its control; • if the arbitral award failed to apply the law agreed upon by the parties to govern the subject matter in dispute; • if the composition of the arbitral tribunal or the appointment of the arbitrators was in conflict with this law or the parties’ agreement; • if the arbitral award dealt with matters not falling within the scope of the arbitration agreement or exceeding the limits of this agreement – however, in the case when matters falling within the scope of the arbitration can be separated from the part of the award which contains matters not included within the scope of the arbitration, the nullity affects exclusively the latter parts only; or • if the arbitral award itself or the arbitration proce - dures affecting the award contain a legal violation that causes nullity.
Furthermore, Article 53 (2) grants the court adjudicat - ing the nullity action the right to decide ipso jure the nullity of the award if it conflicts with Egyptian public policy. In a recent case, the court of appeal determined that pre-arbitration conditions – such as efforts towards an amicable settlement – do not constitute grounds for setting aside an arbitral award. These conditions are considered issues of admissibility that may be raised before the arbitral tribunal and do not impact its jurisdiction. The court emphasised that annulment proceedings are not concerned with breaches of eve - ry mandatory rule, but specifically with those rules intended to uphold public policy. On a related note, the mere filing of an annulment action does not stay the enforcement of the arbitral award whose annulment is being sought. The party against whom enforcement is sought may request the suspension of the enforcement pending the court’s judgment on the annulment action itself. This request should be accompanied by an explanation of the (seri - ous) reasons that justify the requested suspension. Therefore, the decision that suspends enforcement, if granted, is a temporary decision. It will lapse once a judgment on the annulment action is rendered. Other legal challenges, as explained in 2.5 Challeng- ing Enforcement of Domestic Judgments , are also applicable to the enforcement of arbitral awards.
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