France / 14 January 1997 / France, Cour d'appel de Paris / République arabe d'Egypte v. Société Chromalloy Aero Services / 95/23025
| Country | France |
| Court | France, Cour d'appel de Paris (Court of Appeal of Paris) |
| Date | 14 January 1997 |
| Parties | République arabe d'Egypte v. Société Chromalloy Aero Services |
| Case number | 95/23025 |
| Applicable NYC Provisions | V | V(1) | V(1)(e) | VI | VII | VII(1) |
| Source |
Original decision obtained from the registry of the Cour d’appel de Paris |
| Summary | On 16 June 1988, the Arab Republic of Egypt and a US company (Chromalloy) entered into a contract for the supply of material, services and technical assistance for the management and maintenance of military aircraft. Following the termination of this agreement by the Arab Republic of Egypt, Chromalloy initiated arbitration proceedings as provided by the parties in the contract. An award was rendered on 24 August 1994, in Cairo in favor of Chromalloy. In an order issued on 4 May 1995, the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris (First Instance Court of Paris) allowed enforcement of the award in France, whereas the enforcement of the award had been stayed and eventually set aside by the Cairo Court of Appeal. The Arab Republic of Egypt filed an appeal against the enforcement order. It contended that (i) the enforcement order violated the provisions of both the France-Egypt Convention on Judicial Cooperation of 15 March 1982 and the NYC, (ii) the arbitral tribunal did not comply with the mandate conferred upon it (Article 1502 3° of the Code of Civil Procedure), violated due process (Article 1502 4°) and that the recognition and enforcement of the award was contrary to international public policy (Article 1502 5°). The Cour d'appel de Paris (Paris Court of Appeal) confirmed the enforcement order and dismissed the appeal. It first noted that the France-Egypt Convention on Judicial Cooperation provides that the recognition and enforcement of awards rendered in these countries shall be granted in accordance with the provisions of the NYC. In light of this general reference to the NYC, it reasoned that the Contracting States have implicitly consented to the exception under Article VII NYC which provides that the provisions of the NYC may not deprive a party of any right it may have to avail itself of an arbitral award in the manner and to the extent allowed by the law or the treaties of the country where such award is sought to be relied upon. It then held that French Courts may only refuse enforcement in the limited number of situations listed at Article 1502 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which does not include the situation set forth in Article V NYC invoked by the Arab Republic of Egypt, and that given that the award rendered in Egypt was an international award which, by definition, is not anchored in the legal order of that State, its existence was not affected by its setting aside and therefore the recognition and enforcement of this award in France was not contrary to international public policy. The Cour d'appel de Paris then dismissed the other claims based on Article 1502 of the Code of Civil Procedure. |
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Attachment (1)
 Original Language Adobe Acrobat PDF |
