New York Convention 1958

UNICTRAL Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards – New York Convention 1958

The 1958 United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Convention 1958) entered into force in Pakistan on 12 October 2005, following Pakistan’s ratification of the Convention.

Pakistan’s ratification of the UN Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards on 14 July 2005 completed the growth of this multinational treaty on international arbitration, now applicable in all major trading nations. The New York Convention, as it is more commonly known, obliges national courts:

(i) to refer parties to arbitration if requested to do so when seized of a matter covered by an arbitration agreement; and

(ii) to enforce awards made in other states.

According to the Ordinance incorporating the New York Convention into Pakistani law, awards made in other New York Convention Contracting States must be enforced in the same manner as a judgment or order of a court in Pakistan.

The adoption of the New York Convention in 1958 was a landmark in international arbitration and owed much to the work and inspiration of ICC during the preceding years. Pakistan was one of the initial signatories of the Convention. Its long-awaited ratification was the result of a legislative process in which His Excellency Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada, Senior Advisor to the President of Pakistan at the time and member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration and the ICC National Committee in Pakistan played an important role.

The New York Convention 1958 was first enacted in Pakistan as Ordinance No. VIII of 2005 “An Ordinance to provide for the recognition and enforcement of arbitration agreements and foreign arbitral awards” on 14th July 2005, which was subsequently re-promulgated vide Presidential Ordinance.

It was finally enacted as Parliamentary Act No. XVII of 2011 titled “An Act to provide for the Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitration Agreements and Foreign Arbitral Awards”