United Kingdom / 18 October 2002 / England and Wales, High Court / Norsk Hydro v. Republic of Ukraine / 2002/441
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Court | England and Wales, High Court |
| Date | 18 October 2002 |
| Parties | Norsk Hydro v. Republic of Ukraine |
| Case number | 2002/441 |
| Source |
[2002] EWHC 2120 (Comm) | online: BAILII
|
| Languages | English |
| Summary | Norsk Hydro, a Norwegian aluminium metal supplier, entered into a contract with the State Property Fund of Ukraine for the development of a hydro terminal. The relationship between the owners of the terminal was governed by an Owner’s Agreement (“the OA”). Disputes arose and Norsk Hydro commenced arbitration pursuant to the OA, which contained an arbitration clause governed by Swedish law and providing for ad hoc arbitration in accordance with the UNCITRAL arbitration rules, with the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce as the appointing authority. An award was rendered ex parte in favour of Norsk Hydro. Norsk Hydro applied to the High Court for permission to enforce the award and for an order that judgment be entered for damages and other sums as set out in the award. The order was granted. The Ukraine applied to set aside the order on the ground, inter alia, that the OA was entered into by the State Property Fund alone, as principal, and not as an agent for the Ukraine. Further or alternatively, the Ukraine argued it was not a party to an arbitration agreement in writing pursuant to section 100(2) of the Arbitration Act 1996 (U.K.) (“the Act”). The High Court granted the Ukraine’s order to set aside the order to enforce the award on the ground that the Court had no jurisdiction to make an order to enforce an award against the Ukraine, which was not a party to the arbitration agreement. In rendering its judgment, the Court referred to section 100 of the Act, which provides for the recognition and enforcement of NYC awards. The Court discussed the important policy interest in the United Kingdom of ensuring the effective and speedy enforcement of international arbitration awards. |
Attachment (1)
 Original Language Adobe Acrobat PDF |
