DEPARTMENT OF LEGAL AFFAIRS
OFFICE OF INTER-AMERICAN LAW
INTER-AMERICAN CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL
ARBITRATION
13 January 1975
INTER-AMERICAN CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL
ARBITRATION
The Governments of the
Member States of the Organization of American States desirous of concluding a
convention on international commercial arbitration,
have agreed as follows:
Article 1
An agreement in which the
parties undertake to submit to arbitral decision any differences that may arise
or have arisen between them with respect to a commercial transaction is valid.
The agreement shall be set forth in an instrument signed by the parties, or in
the form of an exchange of letters, telegrams, or telex communications.
Article 2
Arbitrators shall be
appointed in the manner agreed upon by the parties. Their appointment may be
delegated to a third party, whether a natural or juridical person.
Arbitrators may be
nationals or foreigners.
Article 3
In the absence of an
express agreement between the parties, the arbitration shall be conducted in
accordance with the rules of procedure of the Inter-American Commercial
Arbitration Commission.
Article 4
An arbitral decision or
award that is not appealable under the applicable law
or procedural rules shall have the force of a final judicial judgment. Its
execution or recognition may be ordered in the same manner as that of decisions
handed down by national or foreign ordinary courts, in accordance with the
procedural laws of the country where it is to be executed and the provisions of
international treaties.
Article 5
1. The recognition and
execution of the decision may be refused, at the request of the party against
which it is made, only if such party is able to prove to the competent
authority of the State in which recognition and execution are requested:
a. That the parties to the
agreement were subject to some incapacity under the applicable law or that the
agreement is not valid under the law to which the parties have submitted it,
or, if such law is not specified, under the law of the State in which the
decision was made; or
b. That the party against
which the arbitral decision has been made was not duly notified of the
appointment of the arbitrator or of the arbitration procedure to be followed, or
was unable, for any other reason, to present his defense; or
c. That the decision
concerns a dispute not envisaged in the agreement between the parties to submit
to arbitration; nevertheless, if the provisions of the decision that refer to
issues submitted to arbitration can be separated from those not submitted to
arbitration, the former may be recognized and executed; or
d. That the constitution of
the arbitral tribunal or the arbitration procedure has not been carried out in
accordance with the terms of the agreement signed by the parties or, in the
absence of such agreement, that the constitution of the arbitral tribunal or
the arbitration procedure has not been carried out in accordance with the law
of the State where the arbitration took place; or
e. That the decision is not
yet binding on the parties or has been annulled or suspended by a competent
authority of the State in which, or according to the law of which, the decision
has been made.
2. The recognition and
execution of an arbitral decision may also be refused if the competent
authority of the State in which the recognition and execution is requested
finds:
a. That the subject of the
dispute cannot be settled by arbitration under the law of that State; or
b. That the recognition or
execution of the decision would be contrary to the public policy ("ordre public") of that State.
Article 6
If the
competent authority mentioned in Article 5. 1. e has
been requested to annul or suspend the arbitral decision, the authority before
which such decision is invoked may, if it deems it appropriate, postpone a
decision on the execution of the arbitral decision and, at the request of the
party requesting execution, may also instruct the other party to provide
appropriate guaranties.
Article 7
This Convention shall be
open for signature by the Member States of the Organization of American States.
Article 8
This Convention is subject
to ratification. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the
General Secretariat of the Organization of American States.
Article 9
This Convention shall
remain open for accession by any other State. The instruments of accession
shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Organization of American
States.
Article 10
This Convention shall enter
into force on the thirtieth day following the date of deposit of the second
instrument of ratification.
For each State ratifying or
acceding to the Convention after the deposit of the second instrument of
ratification, the Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after
deposit by such State of its instrument of ratification or accession.
Article 11
If a State Party has two or
more territorial units in which different systems of law apply in relation to
the matters dealt with in this Convention, it may, at the time of signature,
ratification or accession, declare that this Convention shall extend to all its
territorial units or only to one or more of them.
Such declaration may be
modified by subsequent declarations, which shall expressly indicate the
territorial unit or units to which the Convention applies. Such subsequent
declarations shall be transmitted to the General Secretariat of the
Organization of American States, and shall become effective thirty days after
the date of their receipt.
Article 12
This Convention shall
remain in force indefinitely, but any of the States Parties may denounce it.
The instrument of denunciation shall be deposited with the General Secretariat
of the Organization of American States. After one year from the date of deposit
of the instrument of denunciation, the Convention shall no longer be in effect
for the denouncing State, but shall remain in effect for the other States
Parties.
Article 13
The
original instrument of this Convention, the English, French, Portuguese and
Spanish texts of which are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the
General Secretariat of the Organization of American States. The Secretariat shall notify the
lumber States of the Organization of American States and the States that have
acceded to the Convention of the signatures, deposits of instruments of
ratification, accession, and denunciation as well as of reservations, if any.
It shall also transmit the declarations referred to in Article 11 of this
Convention.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the
undersigned Plenipotentiaries, being duly authorized thereto by their
respective Governments, have signed this Convention.
DONE AT
PANAMA
Copyright 2008
National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade