CAYMAN ISLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Guy Manning, Harry Shaw and Shaun Tracey, Campbells
and Section 7 concerns the (narrow) grounds upon which enforcement of such an award may be resisted (see 4.3 Categories of Arbitral Awards Not Enforced ). The Grand Court has recently confirmed that interim arbitral awards are also enforceable in the Cayman Islands ( Al Haidar v Rao , Grand Court, unreported judgment of Kawaley J dated 3 February 2023). 4.2 Variations in Approach to Enforcement of Arbitral Awards The Enforcement Act does not apply to an arbitral award made in investor-state arbitrations. There is an alternative statutory enforcement mechanism for such awards pursuant to the Arbitration (International Investment Disputes) Act 1966 (Application to Colo - nies Etc) Order 1967, by which the UK extended cer - tain provisions of the Arbitration (International Invest - ment Disputes) Act 1966 to the Cayman Islands. By these means, the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (the “Washington Convention”) has been given effect in the Cayman Islands. 4.3 Categories of Arbitral Awards Not Enforced In accordance with the Arbitration Act, no arbitral award will be enforced where, or to the extent that, the arbitral tribunal lacked jurisdiction to make the award. The additional grounds upon which a foreign arbitral award may be refused are discussed in 4.6 Challeng- ing Enforcement of Arbitral Awards . 4.4 Process of Enforcing Arbitral Awards An application for leave to enforce an arbitral award is made by ex parte originating summons, supported by affidavit evidence. In the case of a foreign award, Section 6 of the Enforce - ment Act provides that a party seeking to enforce a convention award must adduce an original or certified copy of the award and the arbitration agreement (and a certified translation where the award is in a foreign language) and give certain other information. Upon leave being granted, the order giving leave must be served on the respondent. If required, service out - side the jurisdiction is permitted without leave.
The respondent then ordinarily has 14 days from ser - vice of the order in which to apply to set it aside. The award will not be enforced until either that time period has expired or the court has disposed of any applica - tion made within that period. 4.5 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Arbitral Awards A domestic arbitral award may readily be recognised as a court judgment, in which case, the time and costs of enforcement will depend upon the factors outlined in 2.3 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Domestic Judgments . The same applies to a foreign arbitral award unless the respondent applies to set aside the recognition order. The time and costs involved will depend upon the number and complexity of the grounds of resistance. 4.6 Challenging Enforcement of Arbitral Awards As noted in 4.3 Categories of Arbitral Awards Not Enforced , a domestic arbitral award will ordinarily be enforced unless the arbitral tribunal lacked jurisdic - tion. As to the enforcement of a foreign award, the grounds for potential refusal are set out in Section 7 of the Enforcement Act, and mirror those in Article 5 of the New York Convention. In summary, enforcement will only be refused if it is established that: • a party to the arbitration agreement was under some incapacity; • the arbitration agreement was not valid; • the opposing party was not given proper notice of the appointment of the arbitrator or the arbitration proceedings, or was unable to present their case; • the award goes beyond the scope of the arbitrable dispute; • the composition of the arbitral authority or the arbi - tration procedure was defective; • the making of the award was induced or affected by fraud, corruption or misconduct on the part of an arbitrator; or • a breach of the rules of natural justice has preju - diced the rights of any party.
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