ISRAEL Law and Practice Contributed by: Joseph (Yossi) Ashkenazi, Haim Machluf and Roy Schondorf, Herzog Fox & Neeman
cle 5 to the New York Convention (see 4.6 Challenging Enforcement of Arbitral Awards under “International Awards” for further detail on the various grounds for non-enforcement). 4.4 Process of Enforcing Arbitral Awards With respect to non-international arbitral awards, enforcement requires filing an application for confir - mation to the appropriate court (ie, the court of com - petent jurisdiction according to the subject or value of the arbitration). The application is made under Arti - cle 23 of the Arbitration Law. This application may not be made ex parte. Once confirmed, the award is regarded as a judgment of the court, except for appeal proceedings where applicable. The award debtor may move to revoke the arbitral award or to object to its confirmation within 45 days of the date on which the award was granted or within 15 days of the date on which the motion to confirm the award was served on him/her, according to the shorter period. This application must be based on one of the grounds specified in the Arbitration Law (see also 4.6 Challenging Enforcement of Arbitral Awards under “Non-International Awards”). With respect to international arbitral awards, a request for recognition and enforcement is required under Arti - cle 44 of the International Arbitration Law. The award debtor may object based on the grounds listed in Sec - tion 45 to the New Law. With respect to international arbitrations seated in Israel, the award debtor may also request revocation of the award, in accordance with Article 43 of the New Law, within 90 days from the date on which the award was served on him/her, or within 90 days from the date on which the arbi - tral tribunal issued a decision on a party’s motion to amend or interpret the award according to Section 42 of the New Law. 4.5 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Arbitral Awards Moving to confirm an arbitral award is a relatively straightforward process. Costs and time will then depend on how quickly the court deals with the application and whether the opposing party applies to revoke or objects to the approval of the award.
the New Law does not derogate from the parties’ right to agree on a two-tier arbitration appeals mechanism. 4.2 Variations in Approach to Enforcement of Arbitral Awards Courts in Israel are generally inclined to enforce arbi - tral awards, and rarely revoke awards rendered in usu- al circumstances. The central variation in this respect is between non-international awards, which may be confirmed or revoked in accordance with the Arbi - tration Law, and international awards, which may be revoked (if seated in Israel), recognised, or objected to according to the International Commercial Arbi - tration Law, based on the same grounds stipulated in the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958. 4.3 Categories of Arbitral Awards Not Enforced The starting point when considering whether an arbi - tral award will be enforced is to consider the form of the award and whether it meets the requisite criteria for enforcement. Non-International Awards There are several criteria that must be met for a non- international arbitral award to be enforced. Namely, the award must be rendered by an arbitrator appoint - ed by or under an arbitration agreement and must apply to a matter that can be subject to an arbitration agreement between the parties. For example, a matter that raises constitutional issues or issues relating to a person’s legal status – eg, whether one is married, whether one’s adoption is legal – cannot be decided by an arbitrator and must be decided by the author - ised court. International Awards In terms of enforcing an international award, a distinc - tion is made depending on the seat of the arbitration. In arbitrations seated in Israel, an international arbitral award may be revoked under the grounds stipulated in Section 43 of the International Commercial Arbitration Law, which is based on the UNCITRAL Model Law. With respect to all international arbitration awards (regardless of their seat) recognition and enforcement may be objected to based on the grounds in Section 45 of the New Law, which follows the grounds in Arti -
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