PORTUGAL Law and Practice Contributed by: Joaquim Shearman de Macedo, Pedro Metello de Nápoles, Luís Heleno Terrinha and Ana Coimbra Trigo, PLMJ
procedure entails payment of court fees (not high) and will be expeditious (based on the time limits for the parties’ pleadings described in 4.6 Challenging Enforcement of Arbitral Awards ) if the defendant can be served promptly. Domestic Arbitral Awards In relation to both foreign and domestic arbitral awards, the enforcement proceedings will depend on finding assets of the defendant and thus can take some time. Typical costs will be moderate and enforcement pro - ceedings are expeditious if assets can be traced. Strategies to make these proceedings more efficient entail anticipating asset tracing efforts to assist the enforcement agent. 4.6 Challenging Enforcement of Arbitral Awards Portuguese law does not set out a limitation period for actions to enforce either foreign or domestic arbitra - tion awards. Foreign Arbitral Awards The enforcement of foreign arbitration awards can be challenged based on the grounds available under the applicable international conventions at the stage of recognition, including the Washington Convention (although more expeditiously in Portugal) and the New York Convention (under the procedure described pre - viously and set out in the Arbitration Law). Those that do not fall in either convention or other treaties will be challenged based on the grounds available under the Arbitration Law, similar to the New York Convention and the UNCITRAL Model Law. The grounds for non-recognition of a foreign arbitral award are: • if one of the parties to the arbitration agreement lacked capacity, or the agreement is not valid under the law the parties agreed would govern it, or failing any reference thereto, under the law where the award was made; • if one of the parties was not given proper notice of the appointment of an arbitrator or of the arbitral proceedings or was otherwise unable to present their case;
• if the award dealt with a dispute not contemplated by the arbitration agreement, or if it contains deci - sions on matters beyond the scope of the agree - ment (admitting enforcement of parts of the award that were submitted to arbitration); • if the composition of the tribunal or the arbitral pro - cedure did not respect the parties’ agreement, or, failing such agreement, was not in accordance with the law where the award was made; and • if the award has not yet become binding on the parties or has been set aside or suspended by a court of the country in which, or under the law of which, that award was made. Additionally, an award may be set aside if the court finds that: • under Portuguese law, the subject of the dispute cannot be decided by arbitration; or • the award is in clear conflict with Portuguese inter - national public policy. The concept of international public policy of the Portu - guese state was adopted by the legislator to highlight the exceptional nature of this clause, which Portu - guese courts have consistently upheld. Domestic Arbitral Awards Appeal on the merits is not possible, unless the parties agree so and the dispute was not decided on an ex aequo et bono basis or through amiable composition. In international arbitrations with their seat in Portu - gal, the parties are also not entitled to appeal unless they have expressly agreed the possibility of appeal to another arbitral tribunal and have regulated its terms and conditions. Therefore, unless otherwise agreed by the parties, domestic arbitration awards may only be challenged before a state court through an application for setting aside. In parallel, the enforcement of domestic arbitration awards can be challenged based on the grounds available under annulment, save if the same grounds were raised and dismissed at the annulment stage.
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