Enforcing a pinqDR award

A pinqDR award is binding like a judgment, globally. How do we do that?

First, the pinqDR process leads to an arbitral award in accordance with the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958 (the NY Convention). Our platform was designed that way, because of the powerful enforcement benefits. There are 172 countries who are parties to the NY Convention and each of them have guaranteed to enforce awards as if they were judgments of their home courts.

That makes a pinqDR award better than a judgment of a domestic court. Whether the parties to the dispute are from the same country, or different countries, you can be assured that you have the best possible means of enforcement.

Second, more than 76% of arbitral awards are voluntarily complied with (2008 Queen Mary, University of London Survey). So in the vast majority of cases, there is no need to do anything beyond the pinqDR process. Awards are complied with because all parties know that the award is internationally binding, so it is likely to be futile and costly to resist enforcement.

Third, if the losing party does not initially comply with the award, there are straightforward mechanisms to force them to do so.

In England & Wales, that is done by an application to the Court under s.66 of the Arbitration Act 1996. That is a simple application, made without notice to the losing party, and results in an order from the court which replicates the formal part of the award (i.e. the part of the award which orders the losing party to pay money over or do something). There are limited grounds on which the losing party can challenge such an order. Then all the usual enforcement techniques of the English court are open – whether that be orders for the sale of properties, attachment onto third party debts or disclosure of assets. Those are powerful remedies.

There are equivalent processes depending on the country in which you wish to enforce. pinqDR has extensive experience of this and can guide parties as required.

In short, whilst you probably won’t need it, it is reassuring to know that a pinqDR award is as enforceable as a judgment of your home court

Finally, here are some useful links to materials on the enforcement of arbitral awards:

Any questions about this, please contact us on hello@pinqDR.com.