Case Law
France / 15 June 2006 / France, Cour d'appel de Paris / Legal Department du Ministère de la Justice de la République d'Irak v. Société Fincantieri Cantieri Navali Italiani, Société Finmeccanica et Société Armamenti E Aerospazio / 05/05404
| Country | France |
| Court | France, Cour d'appel de Paris (Court of Appeal of Paris) |
| Date | 15 June 2006 |
| Parties | Legal Department du Ministère de la Justice de la République d'Irak v. Société Fincantieri Cantieri Navali Italiani, Société Finmeccanica et Société Armamenti E Aerospazio |
| Case number | 05/05404 |
| Applicable NYC Provisions | II |
| Source |
Original decision obtained from the registry of the Cour d’appel de Paris |
| Summary | Three contracts were entered into by the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Iraq and three Italian companies (Fincantieri Cantieri Navali Italiani, Finmeccanica and Armamenti e Aerospazio), containing an arbitration clause. The Italian companies launched proceedings before Italian Courts. The Genoa Court of Appeal found that it had jurisdiction to rule on this dispute on 7 May 1994, by holding that the arbitration agreements contained in the three contracts were invalid in accordance with Article II NYC. In an order issued on 19 October 1994, the President of the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris (First Instance Court of Paris) allowed the enforcement in France of the decision of the Genoa Court of Appeal in application of the Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968. Appealing this decision, the Legal Department of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Iraq (acting on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Iraq) argued that the Brussels Convention was not applicable, as arbitration falls outside its scope and that the Genoa Court of Appeal decision cannot be rendered enforceable on the basis of the France-Italy Convention of 3 June 1930 on the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters, as the decision was rendered by a court which, under that Convention, did not have jurisdiction. In this respect, the Government of the Republic of Iraq contended that the Genoa Court of Appeal should have declined jurisdiction to rule on the existence or validity of the arbitration agreement, in consideration of Article II NYC which compels national courts to refer the parties to arbitration. Lastly, it claimed that the decision was contrary to public policy and international public policy and that there had been fraud. The Cour d'appel de Paris (Paris Court of Appeal) reversed the enforcement order and dismissed the request for enforcement of the decision of the Genoa Court of Appeal. It held that the Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968 did not apply to the decision of the Genoa Court of Appeal and that therefore the order must be overturned. As to the jurisdiction of the Genoa Court of Appeal to rule on the validity of the arbitration agreement, the Cour d'appel de Paris reasoned that when there is an arbitration agreement, and even though no arbitral tribunal had been seized of the matter, national courts must decline jurisdiction, unless a prima facie review shows that the agreement is manifestly void or inapplicable. It then held that the decision of the Genoa Court of Appeal, which found that the arbitration agreements were not valid on the grounds of the embargo established by the United Nations Resolution of 1990, was rendered by a court which did not have jurisdiction and thus could not be enforced in France. |
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Attachment (1)
 Original Language Adobe Acrobat PDF |
