THE ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN AND FOREIGN-RELATED ARBITRAL AWARDS IN THE ...

310 Pages·2014·1.18 MB·English

THE ENFORCEMENT OFFOREIGN AND FOREIGN-RELATED ARBITRAL
AWARDS INTHE PEOPLE’S REPUBLICOFCHINA:
ACALL FORREFORM
SAMANTHAJAYNELORD
Lawyer AdmittedtoPracticeintheSupremeCourt ofWesternAustraliaandHigh
Court ofAustralia
Bachelorof Laws withFirst Class Honours (MurdochUniversity)
This thesis ispresented forthedegreeof Masters of Law
14May2014
StudentNumber: 30651386

ABSTRACT
Over the past 25 years, China has experienced exponential growth. It has surpassed
Japan as the second largest economy in the world, and the World Bank has predicted
that it will overtakethe UnitedStates tobecome theglobal leaderby2030,ifnot before.
As China’s economic success is underpinned by foreign trade and investment, it comes
as no surprise that Chinese entities are, and will be, increasingly involved in disputes
with foreign parties. Arbitration is the preferred method of dispute resolution in China,
and indeed of the international business community, therefore if China is to take its
place as a global leader, it must have a system for the enforcement of foreign and
foreign-related arbitral awards that is in line with international best practice and that is
reliable, predictable and transparent. However, in many respects China’s current
system for the enforcement of foreign and foreign-related arbitral awards falls short of
thestandardit ought toachieve.
In light of this, this paper explains why China has the potential to become a leading
arbitral jurisdiction, analyses China’s system for the enforcement of foreign and
foreign-related arbitral awards and in doing so identifies flaws and areas in which it
falls short of international best practice, and finally calls for reform of China’s current
system bysetting out recommended legislative and practical reforms, which it is argued
Chinamust makeifit is toultimatelytakeits placeas a,or eventhe, world leader.
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TABLEOFCONTENTS
Acknowledgements...........................................................................................................v
I. Introduction...........................................................................................................1
II. China's Potential ToBecomeA LeadingArbitral Jurisdiction.............................3
A ArbitrationinChina: TheHistorical Foundations................................................3
B ArbitrationinChina: TheCultural Context........................................................26
C The ImportanceofArbitrationinChina's Future................................................30
D ChinaHas ThePotential ToBeA LeadingArbitral Jurisdiction.......................33
III. TheFrameworkforEnforcement of Foreign-relatedandForeignArbitral
Awards inthePRC..............................................................................................35
A TheRoleoftheNational People’s Congress and Its StandingCommittee........35
B TheRoleofTheChinese Judiciary.....................................................................36
C Difference Between Foreignand Foreign-Related Arbitral Awards..................43
D Legislative Framework fortheEnforcement ofArbitral Awards.......................44
E The Framework For Enforcement of Foreign-Related and Foreign Arbitral
Awards As A Basis forReform ..........................................................................53
IV. TheProcedurefor Enforcement of Foreign-relatedandForeignandArbitral
Awards inthePRC..............................................................................................55
A MakinganApplicationforEnforcement............................................................56
B AcceptanceofanApplicationforEnforcement..................................................72
C NoticeofEnforcement........................................................................................77
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D Objections toEnforcement.................................................................................78
E RepresentationinEnforcement Proceedings......................................................79
F Hearing................................................................................................................80
G Request for InformationFrom anArbitrationCommission................................81
H DecisiononEnforcement andthePriorReportingSystem................................82
I ExaminationofProperty.....................................................................................83
J Enforcement Assistance Notice..........................................................................86
K Entrustment.........................................................................................................86
L SuspensionofEnforcement Proceedings............................................................90
M EarlyTerminationofEnforcement Proceedings.................................................93
N Time Limits forEnforcement.............................................................................95
O Is There a Need for Reform of the Procedure for Enforcement of Foreign-related
andForeignArbitral Awards?.............................................................................98
V. Grounds forRefusingRecognitionandEnforcement ofForeign-relatedand
ForeignArbitral Awards...................................................................................108
A BurdenofProofandthe Court’s Discretion.....................................................109
B IncapacityofaParty.........................................................................................113
C Invalidityofthe ArbitrationAgreement...........................................................125
D Procedural Fairness...........................................................................................147
E Matters FallingOutsidetheScopeofthe Arbitration.......................................164
F Procedural IrregularityGround.........................................................................182
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G ‘Not Yet Binding’or‘Set Aside’......................................................................206
H Non-Arbitrability..............................................................................................216
I ContrarytoPublicPolicy..................................................................................232
J Refusal Provisions: Is therea Need forReform?..............................................250
VI. Conclusion: ACall ForReform........................................................................262
Bibliography....................................................................................................................vi
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