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Inter-American
Convention on International Commercial Arbitration
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Done at Panama, 30 January 1975;
entered into force 16 June 1976;
Organization of American States, Treaty Series, no. 42.
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PREAMBLE
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: |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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Article 5
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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 competent authority of the State
in which, or according to the law of which, the decision has
been made.
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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 the State; or
b. That the recognition or execution of the decision would be
contrary to the public policy ("ordre public") of that State.
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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. |
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Article 7
This Convention shall be open for signature by the Member States of
the Organization of American States. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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 Member States of
the Organization of American States and the States that have acceded
to the Convention of the signatures, deposits of instruments or
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 CITY, Republic of Panama, this thirtieth day of
January one thousand nine hundred and seventy-five. |
