Q: How is new york convention pertained to foreign award ?

Ans: The Convention on Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, 1958, or the New York Convention (“New York Convention”) as it has come to be known, was a significant milestone in international commercial arbitration. The Convention was the culmination of attempts around the world to uniformise rules for enforcement of awards passed by arbitral tribunals in foreign countries. By signing up to the New York Convention, States undertook to recognise and enforce arbitral awards passed in other member Countries.

At the time it was signed and ratified, the New York Convention was indeed a revolutionary instrument. Before long, a vast majority of States had ratified it thereby giving legal sanctity to arbitral awards passed in other jurisdictions. Indeed, the success of the New York Convention is easily gauged by the fact that it is now the second most widely ratified treaty in the world.

India was an early adopter of this new regime. India signed the New York Convention in 1958 and ratified it in 1960. Soon thereafter, the Foreign Awards (Recognition and Enforcement) Act, 1961, was passed. In 1996, the Indian Parliament, in supersession of the Arbitration Act, 1940, and the Foreign Awards (Recognition and Enforcement) Act, 1961, enacted the consolidated Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“A&C Act”) which covered enforcement of foreign awards under the New York Convention from Sections 44 to 52. Section 48 is the reiteration of Article V of the New York Convention, and provides for limited grounds of challenge to the enforcement of a foreign arbitral award.