International Arbitration Act · 2024 Revised Edition · Part · Foreign Awards
44. Refusal of enforcement
Official textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
In any proceedings in which the enforcement of a foreign award is sought by virtue of this Part, the party against whom the enforcement is sought may request that the enforcement be refused, and the enforcement in any of the cases mentioned in subsections (2) and (4) may be refused but not otherwise.
enforcement
“enforcement”, in relation to a foreign award, includes the recognition of the award as binding for any purpose.
A court so requested may refuse enforcement of a foreign award if the person against whom enforcement is sought proves to the satisfaction of the court that —
a party to the arbitration agreement in pursuance of which the award was made was, under the law applicable to him, under some incapacity at the time when the agreement was made;
the arbitration agreement is not valid under the law to which the parties have subjected it or, in the absence of any indication in that respect, under the law of the country where the award was made;
he was not given proper notice of the appointment of the arbitrator or of the arbitration proceedings or was otherwise unable to present his case in the arbitration proceedings;
subject to subsection (3), the award deals with a difference not contemplated by, or not falling within the terms of, the submission to arbitration or contains a decision on the matter beyond the scope of the submission to arbitration;
the composition of the arbitral authority or the arbitral procedure was not in accordance with the agreement of the parties or, failing such agreement, was not in accordance with the law of the country where the arbitration took place; or
the award has not yet become binding on the parties to the arbitral award or has been set aside or suspended by a competent authority of the country in which, or under the law of which, the award was made.
When a foreign award referred to in subsection (2)(d) contains decisions on matters not submitted to arbitration but those decisions can be separated from decisions on matters submitted to arbitration, the award may be enforced to the extent that it contains decisions on matters so submitted.
foreign award
“foreign award” means an arbitral award made in pursuance of an arbitration agreement in the territory of a Convention country other than Brunei Darussalam;
International Arbitration
In any proceedings in which the enforcement of a foreign award is sought by virtue of this Part, the court may refuse to enforce the award if it finds that —
award
“award” means a decision of the arbitral tribunal on the substance of the dispute and includes any interim, interlocutory or partial award, but excludes any orders or directions made under section 15;
the subject matter of the difference between the parties to the award is not capable of settlement by arbitration under the law of
Brunei Darussalam; or
enforcement of the award would be contrary to the public policy of Brunei Darussalam.
Where, in any proceedings in which the enforcement of a foreign award is sought by virtue of this Part, the court is satisfied that an application for the setting aside or for the suspension of the award has been made to a competent authority of the country in which, or under the law of which, the award was made, the court may —
if it considers it proper to do so, adjourn the proceedings or, as the case may be, so much of the proceedings as relates to the award;
and
on the application of the party seeking to enforce the award, order the other party to give suitable security.
Terms defined in this Act
arbitration agreement
Defined · s 2“arbitration agreement” means a written agreement referred to in Article 7 of the Model Law and includes an agreement deemed or constituted under subsection (3) or (4);
award
Defined · s 2“award” means a decision of the arbitral tribunal on the substance of the dispute and includes any interim, interlocutory or partial award, but excludes any orders or directions made under section 15;
enforcement
Defined · s 40“enforcement”, in relation to a foreign award, includes the recognition of the award as binding for any purpose.
foreign award
Defined · s 40“foreign award” means an arbitral award made in pursuance of an arbitration agreement in the territory of a Convention country other than Brunei Darussalam;
party
Defined · s 2“party” means a party to an arbitration agreement or, in any case where an arbitration does not involve all of the parties to the arbitration agreement, means a party to the arbitration.
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