How Does the Court Review a Request to Annul an Arbitral Award?
Article 71 of the Law on Commercial Arbitration 2010 stipulates how the Court reviews a request to annul an arbitral award as follows:
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Notification upon acceptance:
After accepting the request for annulment of an arbitral award, the competent Court shall immediately notify the arbitration center or the arbitrators of the arbitral tribunal, the disputing parties, and the People’s Procuracy of the same level. -
Formation of the review panel:
Within seven working days from the date of acceptance, the Chief Justice of the Court shall designate a panel of three judges, one of whom acts as the presiding judge.
Within thirty days from the date of designation, the panel must hold a hearing to consider the request for annulment.
The Court must transfer the case file to the Procuracy seven working days before the hearing so that the Procuracy can study the file and attend the hearing. After this period, the Procuracy must return the file to the Court for the hearing to take place. -
Hearing procedure:
The hearing shall be conducted in the presence of the disputing parties, their lawyers (if any), and a representative of the Procuracy.
If any party requests the panel to proceed in their absence, or if they have been duly summoned but fail to attend without a justifiable reason, or leave the hearing without the panel’s consent, the panel may still proceed to review the request for annulment. -
Scope of review:
When considering the request, the panel shall rely on Article 68 of this Law and the accompanying documents to make its decision.
The panel does not re-adjudicate the substance of the dispute already settled by the arbitral tribunal.
After examining the request and evidence, hearing the statements of the summoned parties (if any), and the opinion of the Procuracy representative, the panel shall deliberate and decide by majority vote. -
Possible decisions:
The panel may decide to annul or not to annul the arbitral award.
If the requesting party withdraws the request, fails to attend the hearing without a valid reason, or leaves without permission, the panel shall issue a decision to discontinue the review. -
Notification of the decision:
Within five working days from the date of issuance, the Court shall send the decision to the disputing parties, the arbitration center or arbitrators, and the Procuracy of the same level. -
Temporary suspension of review:
At the request of a party and if deemed appropriate, the panel may temporarily suspend the annulment review for up to 60 days to allow the arbitral tribunal to correct procedural errors that serve as grounds for annulment.
The arbitral tribunal must inform the Court of the correction. If it fails to do so, the Court panel shall continue the annulment review. -
After annulment:
If the Court decides to annul the arbitral award, the parties may agree to submit the dispute to arbitration again or one party may bring the case before the Court.
If the Court decides not to annul the arbitral award, the award shall be enforceable. -
Exclusion from limitation period:
The time for dispute resolution by arbitration and for the annulment procedure before the Court is not counted toward the limitation period for initiating a lawsuit. -
Finality:
The Court’s decision is final and legally binding.
