Judicial Review of Arbitral Awards on Public Policy Grounds: Lessons from the Middle East
This thesis is confined to public policy as an exception to the enforcement of arbitral awards, which is known as ‘the public policy exception’. It examines the main controversies and complexities in the application of the public policy exception. The proposed research thesis will seek to examine the theoretical underpinning and practical application of “public policy” within the context of international arbitration. This research will look speatialy at public policy in the Middle East countries.
Public policy is often regarded as a vague concept which is impossible to define and which varies from State to State. This leads to uncertainty and unpredictability, which encourages the unsuccessful party in the arbitration to resist enforcement of the award on grounds of public policy. On occasion the unsuccessful party from arbitration might get lucky, or at least delay the fateful day when they must make payment. But is the application of public policy that unpredictable? And does it substantively vary in the Middle East? And do the some countries in the Middle East get an advantage from the public policy exception? Is public policy in the Middle Eeast more narrow or broader than other regions.
