Canada / 05 May 2009 / Canada, Queen's Bench for Saskatchewan / West Plains Company v. Northwest Organic Community Mills Co-operative Ltd.
| Country | Canada |
| Court | Canada, Queen's Bench for Saskatchewan |
| Date | 05 May 2009 |
| Parties | West Plains Company v. Northwest Organic Community Mills Co-operative Ltd. |
| Applicable NYC Provisions | I | III | V |
| Source |
2009 SKQB 162 | online: CanLII |
| Languages | English |
| Summary | West Plains Company (“West Plains”) and Northwest Organic Community Mills Co-Operative Ltd. (“Northwest Organic”) entered into a purchase contract containing a clause that referred disputes to arbitration at the United States National Grain and Feed Association (“NGFA”). A dispute arose between the parties and West Plains commenced NGFA arbitration. Northwest Organic did not participate in the arbitration. The arbitral tribunal issued a default judgment in favor of West Plains. West Plains then sought enforcement of the award in Saskatchewan pursuant to Article III NYC and Article 35 of the Model Law. Northwest Organic did not participate in the enforcement proceedings. The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench upheld the request for enforcement. It noted that the Saskatchewan Legislature adopted the NYC by the enactment of the 1996 Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards Act (“FAAA”), and adopted the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (the “UNCITRAL Model Law”) by the enactment of the International Commercial Arbitration Act (“ICAA”). According to the Court, the purpose of both statutes was to require that arbitration awards made in accordance with arbitration rules agreed to by the parties would be universally recognized and enforceable by the courts of participating jurisdictions. The Court considered that the proceedings giving rise to the award arose from a contractual relationship which was commercial in nature, as contemplated by Article I NYC. It was also satisfied that the contract between the parties constituted an agreement in writing within the meaning of NYC and that the parties undertook to submit disputes to arbitration by the NGFA. The Court also noted that the procedural requirements for enforcement had been satisfied, as West Plains had filed a certified copy of the arbitration agreement and a certified copy of the contract. The Court considered that there were no grounds for non-enforcement based on Article V. |
| see also : |
Attachment (1)
 Original Language Adobe Acrobat PDF |
