Switzerland / 26 February 1982 / Switzerland, Bundesgericht / Joseph Müller AG v. Bergesen und Obergericht (II. Zivilkammer) des Kantons Zürich
| Country | Switzerland |
| Court | Switzerland, Bundesgericht |
| Date | 26 February 1982 |
| Parties | Joseph Müller AG v. Bergesen und Obergericht (II. Zivilkammer) des Kantons Zürich |
| Applicable NYC Provisions | V | V(1) | V(1)(d) | V(1)(e) | V(2) | V(2)(b) |
| Source |
http://www.bger.ch (website of Swiss Federal Tribunal) |
| Languages | English |
| Summary | The parties concluded several charter parties all of which contained an arbitration clause providing for arbitration in New York City, under New York law, and stating that any arbitral award rendered under the agreement was to be enforceable by any competent court and was to be finally effective and binding on the parties in any country. The Respondent obtained a favorable award against the Applicant, which, upon the Respondent’s application, the Bezirksgericht (Regional Court) Zurich declared to be enforceable. The Applicant’s appeal to the Obergericht (Higher Cantonal Court) Zurich was rejected, after which the Applicant filed a complaint before the Bundesgericht (Swiss Federal Tribunal), requesting that the Bezirksgericht’s decision be annulled and the matter remanded to the Obergericht for a new decision. The Applicant contended that the Obergericht had violated Article V(1)(e) NYC since it had wrongly held the award to be binding even though under New York law an award did not become binding and enforceable until it had been confirmed by a state court. The Bundesgericht dismissed the Applicant’s complaint, stating that the Applicant carried the burden of proving that the award had not become binding under Article V(1)(e) NYC. It found that whether an award had become binding on the parties was primarily a question to be determined according to the law applicable to the arbitral proceedings, which, as evidenced by Article V(1)(d) NYC, consisted primarily of the rules agreed upon by the parties and, in the absence of any such agreed rules, the law of the state where the arbitral proceedings were seated. The Bundesgericht further stated that the parties’ right to freely design the applicable procedural rules also included the parties’ right to declare certain mandatory state procedures to be inapplicable and to substitute them by their own rules, as long as this did not violate the public policy of the enforcement state under Article V(2)(b) NYC. The Bundesgericht noted that as long as the arbitral award was not appealable under the applicable procedural law, Swiss public policy did not provide any reason for refusing enforcement in Switzerland. The Bundesgericht concluded that in the present case the parties had agreed on New York law but had also agreed that the award should be enforceable by any competent court and be finally effective and binding on all parties in any country, which in turn meant that the award would become binding not after confirmation under New York law, but as of its issuance. The Bundesgericht added that the Applicant had failed to show that the alleged requirement to confirm the award under New York law was compatible with the parties’ arbitration agreement. The Bundesgericht further stated that even if the award was not declared enforceable at the place where it was issued, it could be binding on the parties and that a mandatory requirement to declare an award enforceable at its seat would run counter to the objective of the NYC to avoid double exequatur. According to the Bundesgericht, it was sufficient that the award was susceptible to exequatur at the arbitral seat. Finally, the Bundesgericht stated that the Applicant’s expert, who had considered an “unconfirmed award” to be a “mere expectation” had only considered the award in the light of New York law but not in the light of the NYC. |
| affirms : |
Attachment (1)
 Original Language Adobe Acrobat PDF |
