Conditions Necessary for the Enforcement of International Arbitration Awards

The award of an international arbitration is the legal instrument of award made by the arbitral tribunal for a dispute arbitration case. According to Article 54 of the Arbitration Law, the arbitration award shall specify the arbitration claim, the fact in issue, the reasons for the award, the verdict, the arbitration fee and the payment, and the date of award. The fact in issue and reasons for the award may be skipped if the parties agree not to specify them. The award shall be signed by the arbitrators and affixed with the seal of the arbitration commission. Arbitrators who do not agree on the award may choose to sign or refuse to sign the award.

The people’s court shall enforce an arbitration award on the premise of the following conditions:

(1) There must be a party filing an application to the people’s court with jurisdiction. According to relevant provisions in the Civil Procedure Law, the courts of execution and jurisdiction for domestic arbitration awards and awards concerning foreign affairs are different. For domestic arbitrations awards, if one party does not perform the award, the other party may apply for execution to the people’s court of the place where the person or property subject to enforcement is located. The level of the people’s court for execution is not expressly stipulated. Generally, it is under the jurisdiction of the basic-level people’s court, except for cases specially specified by the higher people’s court, which shall be handled as notified by the higher people’s court. For awards concerning foreign affairs, if one party refuses to perform its obligations, the other party may apply for execution to the intermediate people’s court of the place where the person or property subject to enforcement is located.

(2) A written application for execution and legal instruments on which the execution is based must be submitted to the people’s court. The written application for execution shall specify: the matter and reasons of the application for execution, the fact and basis of the nonperformance of the person subject to enforcement, the name, quantity, and location of the subject matter, the financial situation of the person subject to enforcement and the conditions of the property subject to enforcement. Besides, the applicant shall also submit the international arbitration award on which the execution is based and other materials deemed necessary by the people’s court.

(3) The application for execution of the arbitration award must be submitted within the period provided by law. According to Article 239 of the latest Civil Procedure Law of 2012, the period for application for execution is two years. Relevant regulations on the suspension and interruption of litigation prescription shall apply to the suspension and interruption of the period for application for execution. The period specified above shall begin from the last day of the performance period specified by the legal instrument; if staged performance is specified in the legal instrument, the period shall begin from the last day of each performance period as specified; if no performance period is specified in the legal instrument, the above period shall begin upon the execution of the legal instrument.

Therefore, as an international arbitration award takes effect, if one party fails to perform its obligations within the specified period, the other party may apply to the people’s court for enforcement of the award. The court shall execute the party’s application for such enforcement. To execute effective arbitration awards by law shall be both the right and obligation of the people’s court.