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England and Wales Court of Appeal (Civil Division) Decisions |
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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales Court of Appeal (Civil Division) Decisions >> West Tankers Inc v Allianz SPA & Anor [2012] EWCA Civ 27 (24 January 2012) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/27.html Cite as: [2012] EWCA Civ 27, [2012] Bus LR 1701, [2012] WLR(D) 9, 140 Con LR 45 |
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ON APPEAL FROM THE HIGH COURT, COMMERCIAL COURT
Field J
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
LORD JUSTICE LLOYD
and
LORD JUSTICE TOULSON
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WEST TANKERS INC |
Respondent |
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- and - |
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(1) ALLIANZ SPA (2) GENERALI ASSICURAZIONE GENERALI SPA |
Appellants |
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Mr David Bailey QC and Mr Marcus Mander (instructed by Ince & Co LLP) for the Respondent
Hearing date: 22 November 2011
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Crown Copyright ©
Lord Justice Toulson:
Introduction
1. An award made by the tribunal pursuant to an arbitration agreement may, by leave of the court, be enforced in the same manner as a judgment or order of the court to the same effect.
2. Where leave is so given, judgment may be entered in terms of the award.
…
4. Nothing in this section affects the recognition or enforcement of an award under any other enactment or rule of law, in particular under Part II of the Arbitration Act 1950 (enforcement of awards under the Geneva Convention) or the provisions of Part III of this Act relating to the recognition and enforcement of awards under the New York Convention or by an action on the award.
"Pursuant to section 66(2) of the Arbitration Act 1996, judgment be entered against the defendants in terms of the said award, namely a declaration that the [owners] are under no liability (whether in contract or in tort or otherwise howsoever) to the [charterers and their insurers] in respect of the collision between the vessel Front Comor and the pier (and mooring dolphins) at Erg Petroli's Installation at Santa Panagia, Sicily on 8 August 2000."
The Italian proceedings
"People engaged in commerce choose arbitration in order to be outside the procedures of any national court. They frequently prefer the privacy, informality and absence of any prolongation of the dispute by appeal which arbitration offers. Nor is it only a matter of procedure. The choice of arbitration may affect the substantive rights of the parties, giving the arbitrators the right to act as amiables compositeurs, apply broadly equitable considerations, even a lex mercatoria which does not wholly reflect any national system of law. The principle of autonomy of the parties should allow them these choices."
"…supported by article 2(3) of the New York Convention, according to which it is the court of a contracting state, when seised of an action in a matter in respect of which the parties have made an arbitration agreement, that will, at the request of one of the parties, refer the parties to arbitration, unless it finds that the said agreement is null and void, inoperative or incapable of being performed."
"A judgment shall not be recognised:
1. if such recognition is manifestly contrary to public policy in the Member State in which recognition is sought;
…
3. if it is irreconcilable with a judgment given in a dispute between the same parties in the Member State in which recognition is sought."
Judgment of Field J
"The purpose of s66(1) and (2) is to provide a means by which the victorious party in an arbitration can obtain the material benefit of the award in his favour other than by suing on it. Where the award is in the nature of a declaration and there is no appreciable risk of the losing party obtaining an inconsistent judgment in a member state which he might try to enforce within the jurisdiction, leave will not generally stand to be granted because the victorious party will not thereby obtain any benefit which he does not already have by virtue of the award per se. In short, in such a case, the grant of leave will not facilitate the realisation of the benefit of the award. Where, however, as here, the victorious party's objective in obtaining an order under s66(1) and (2) is to establish the primacy of a declaratory award over an inconsistent judgment, the court will have jurisdiction to make a s66 order because to do so will be to make a positive contribution to the securing of the material benefit of the award."
The insurers' appeal
1. He failed to distinguish between the general purpose of section 66 and the meaning of the word "enforced" in section 66(1), and in doing so misinterpreted the word "enforced".
2. He gave to the word "enforced" an unnaturally wide meaning, whereas he should have held that a declaratory judgment especially a negative declaratory judgment (which does not require anybody to do anything), is incapable of being "enforced".
3. He lost sight of the fact that the section is concerned only with the enforcement of an award "in the same manner" as a judgment.
4. He ignored the well established distinction between the recognition of an award and the enforcement of an award.
Authorities
"Non-compliance with a declaration cannot be punished as a contempt of court, nor can a declaration be enforced by any normal form of execution, although exceptionally a writ of sequestration might be appropriate: see Webster v Southwark London Borough Council [1983] QB 698."
"…you cannot enforce a document which merely says by way of declaration (in effect) that certain contracts with three numbers should be set against certain other contracts with three other numbers and that [the appellant] ought to pay the differences between them."
"That case is authority for the proposition that an award which is effectively couched in purely declaratory terms cannot be enforced as a judgment, and for the wider proposition that, in order to be enforceable as a judgment under s66 of the Arbitration Act 1996 (as it now is), the award must be framed in terms which would make sense if those were translated straight into the body of a judgment. It highlights the fact that, on an application of this kind, the court is concerned in this respect with the form of the award, not with its substance."
"Notwithstanding the words used by Lord Evershed and the statement by Moore-Bick J…, it is the uncertainty or ambiguity that resulted from the fact that the award was not an award of a "sum certain" which has been regarded by the commentators as rendering the award in that case incapable of enforcement: see Mustill and Boyd, Commercial Arbitration, 2nd edition page 419; Russell on Arbitration, 23rd edition, 2007, para 8-012; Merkin on Arbitration, loose leaf edition, updated to July 2011, para 19.11. The 2003 edition of Russell on Arbitration stated (para 8-006 note 61) that in the light of Moore-Bick J's observation it was "doubtful" whether an award couched in purely declaratory terms can be enforced under section 66 but also doubted that the observation "has general application". But the current, 23rd edition "suggests" (para 8-012) that "previously expressed doubts" are "no longer applicable" and that "provided the terms of the award are sufficiently clear there is now no reason why a declaratory award cannot be enforced under section 66"."
Beatson J added at paragraph 26 that he agreed with Field J's approach to Margulies and to the approach of the commentators. His helpful summary makes it unnecessary to refer to the text books in greater detail.
"9. …The essential purpose of arbitration is to determine disputes between the parties to the arbitration. Historically this was what the function of the arbitrators was – to say who was right. The decision of the arbitrators could, as a result of the authority given to the arbitrator by the parties' agreed submission to arbitration, declare what were the rights and liabilities of the parties and bind the parties by that declaration. Enforcement lay with the courts…
…
13. …The result of the arbitration is embodied in the award or awards of the arbitrator. If the winner is precluded from referring to the award, he cannot enforce it whether as a declaration of his rights or as a monetary award. This would be fundamentally inconsistent with and frustrate the purpose of the arbitration. [Emphasis added]
14. …the decision [in the first arbitration] was a decision which decided as between Aegis and European Re what was the correct construction of article X of the reinsurance agreement. It established what were the rights of the parties under that article. Ex hypothesi, Aegis are seeking in the second arbitration to dispute that the parties have those rights, contrary to the earlier award. How can European Re enforce the earlier decision? The answer is by pleading an issue estoppel."
"5. It is necessary to say a little more about the two methods of enforcing awards obtained under the Arbitration Act 1950 (which continue to apply under the Arbitration Act 1996).
(i). Enforcement of an award by action is by an ordinary action brought in the High Court. The procedure is not subject to any statutory provision, but it has long been established at common law as an action founded upon the implied promise to pay the award. It is given statutory recognition in section 66(4) of the 1996 Act.
(ii). Enforcement of the award in the same manner as a judgment is a statutory process.
…
6. The procedure for enforcement by action is little used in practice. For many years it has been the practice of parties who seek to use the enforcement mechanism of the court in England and Wales to use the procedure under section 26 of the 1950 Act and section 66 of the 1996 Act to enforce an award …
7. The procedure under sections 26 and 66 had its origins in earlier legislation and was a summary form of proceeding intended to dispense with the full formalities of the action to enforce an award. The summary procedure was originally intended only to be invoked in reasonably clear cases – see Boks and Co v Peters, Rushton and Co limited [1919] KB 491 at page 497 where Scrutton LJ made clear it was only to be invoked "in reasonably clear cases". However, procedures were developed so that the court could decide summarily questions of law which did not involve issues of fact. By the 1980s courts were prepared to deal with all applications under the summary procedure provided objections could be disposed of without a trial: see, for example, Middlemiss and Gould v Hartley Corporation [1972] 1 WLR 1643 and Hall and Wodehouse Limited v Panorama Hotel Properties Limited [1974] 2 Lloyd's Rep 413."
Discussion and conclusion
Lord Justice Lloyd:
Lord Justice Carnwath: