ANGOLA Law and Practice Contributed by: José Miguel Oliveira, António Caxito Marques, Caio de Mello Ferreira and João Saiago Canjeque, VdA
ciled or the contract shall be performed), as set out by Article 41 (2). Jurisdiction Clauses As a rule, jurisdiction clauses stated in contracts (including bills of lading) are valid and enforceable, as long as they arise from a written agreement, in which the competent jurisdiction is expressly mentioned, as established by Article 99 of the Civil Procedure Code. Article 5 of Executive Decree 26/97 further establishes that Angolan courts’ jurisdiction cannot be excluded in matters of international maritime law that would be within the jurisdiction of Angolan courts in accordance with Angolan domestic law, unless the parties are for - eigners and if it is a question regarding an obligation that must be performed in foreign territory and does not relate to assets located, registered or enrolled in Angola. 7.2 Enforcement of Law and Arbitration Clauses Incorporated Into a Bill of Lading Pursuant to Articles 1 (1) and 3 (1) of Law No 16/03 of 25 July 2003 (“Law 16/03”), an arbitration clause is valid as long as it arises from a written agreement from the parties and concerns a claim of rights that can be disposed of or waived and that is not attributed to the exclusive jurisdiction of Angolan courts. For choice of law clauses, see 7.1 Enforcement of Law and Jurisdiction Clauses Stated in Bills of Lad- ing . 7.3 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards The 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards is appli - cable in Angola. With regard to domestic law, Articles 1094 to 1096 of the Civil Procedure Code are applicable to the review and confirmation of foreign judgments. As a rule, any judgment awarded by a foreign court shall be subject to review and confirmation by the Supreme Court in order to be valid and enforceable in Angola.
The following set of requirements must be met for the review and confirmation of a foreign judgment, as set out by Article 1096: • there are no doubts as to the authenticity of the judgment and the intelligibility of its decision; • it must have become a final decision (not subject to appeal) according to the law of the country where the judgment was issued; • it comes from a foreign court whose jurisdiction has not been fraudulently acquired, and it does not concern a matter of exclusive jurisdiction of the Angolan courts; • there is no case pending or decided before an Angolan court, unless the foreign court has pre - vented jurisdiction; • the defendant has been duly summoned to the proceedings, in accordance with the law of the country of the court of origin, and the principles of adversarial proceedings and equality of the parties have been observed; and • it does not contain a decision whose recognition would lead to a result manifestly incompatible with international public policy or the principles of inter - national private law of Angola. The enforcement of arbitral awards where the New York Convention is not applicable is regulated in Law 16/03 and in the Civil Procedure Code, and can only be rejected on limited grounds (in addition to those that are also applicable to the enforcement of judicial decisions) as follows: • the dispute is not arbitrable; • the award is rendered by an arbitral tribunal with no jurisdiction; • the arbitration agreement has expired; • the award lacks the statement of grounds; • there has been a violation within the proceedings of fundamental principles, and the violation had a decisive influence on the outcome of the dispute; • the arbitral tribunal has dealt with issues that it should not have dealt with, or has failed to decide issues that it should have decided; or • where the tribunal decided as amiable composi - teur, and the award breaches the principles of pub - lic policy of Angolan law.
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