SERBIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Aleksandar Ristić and Stefan Šilobad, Law Office Miroslav Stojanović
Accordingly, Serbia generally has a positive outlook on resolution of disputes via arbitration, whereby Ser - bian courts are expected to enforce valid arbitration agreements and to dismiss, upon a party’s objection, any claims brought before courts in contravention of an arbitration agreement, unless such agreement is obviously null and void, is without legal effect or is unenforceable. 4.2 Variations in Approach to Enforcement of Arbitral Awards Arbitral awards in Serbia that are final are generally enforceable, and there is no specific differentiation between types and categories of arbitral awards when it comes to the matter of their enforcement. Under Serbian law, a domestic arbitral award has the same legal effect as a domestic court decision and is thus eligible for enforcement in accordance with the local procedure stipulated under the LES. Foreign arbitral awards have to be formally recog - nised by a competent Serbian court before they may be enforced. Provided that a foreign arbitral award has been appropriately recognised under Serbian law, it is enforced in the same way as a domestic court judgment. 4.3 Categories of Arbitral Awards Not Enforced Specific legal grounds are provided under the LOA that may be used to request annulment of a domestic arbitral award before a Serbian court. Such course of action must be performed within three months from the date of receipt of said arbitral award. Regarding foreign arbitral awards, before they can be enforced in Serbia, their legality is examined by the competent Serbian court in the relevant recogni - tion proceedings. The LOA lists specific grounds for refusal that apply to the recognition of foreign arbitral awards. Legal grounds for annulment of a domestic arbitral award and challenging the recognition of a foreign arbitral award are similar, and may be split into two categories.
• Those assessed by the Serbian court ex officio, namely: (a) if the foreign arbitral award concerns a non- arbitrable matter; or (b) if the foreign arbitral award is contrary to the public policy of Serbia. • Those assessed by the Serbian court upon the request/objection of a party, namely: (a) if the arbitration agreement is invalid; (b) if the party against which the foreign arbitral award was adopted was not duly notified of the appointment of the arbitrator(s), the arbitra - tion proceedings themselves, or was otherwise denied the right to participate in such proceed - ings; (c) if the arbitrator(s) decided on a matter that was not entrusted to them under the arbitration agreement at all or if it exceeded the scope of their mandate (in which case partial recognition is still possible, to the extent that the decision adopted within such scope is severable); (d) if the appointment of the arbitration tribunal (or single arbitrator) or the arbitration proceedings were not performed in line with the arbitration agreement, applicable rules or laws; and (e) if a domestic arbitral award is based on false testimony by a witness or expert witness or on a forged document, or is a result of a criminal act, or if a foreign arbitral award did not yet become binding between the parties or was annulled or stayed from enforcement by a deci - sion of the court of its country of origin. 4.4 Process of Enforcing Arbitral Awards Pursuant to the LES, domestic arbitral awards are granted the same legal effect as domestic court judgments. They are thus considered to constitute enforceable titles and are enforced in line with the procedure outlined in 2.2 Enforcement of Domestic Judgments . In contrast, a foreign arbitral award must first be rec - ognised by a Serbian court, whereby the request for recognition must also include: • the relevant arbitral award in original or certified copy (along with a confirmation on its finality and
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