NEWSLETTER-2017

173 ARBITRATION LAW Amsterdam Court of Appeal decided in favor of enforcement of these awards. The Court opined that “ it was very likely that the judgments by the Russian civil judge setting aside the arbitral award are the result of a dispensing of justice that must be qualified as partial and depen- dent;” therefore, they cannot be taken into consideration in the Neth- erlands during the enforcement action 4 . On the other hand, it should be emphasized that this decision has been criticized in the doctrine, since the Court of Appeal’s decision was not based on concrete evidence of a lack of impartiality on the part of the judges involved in all three instances, but on the purportedly systematic lack of independence of the Russian judiciary 5 . General Principles to be considered in the Enforcement of an Award Set Aside at the Seat of Arbitration In light of the decisions, above, some general principles may be taken into consideration. To begin with, the grounds to set aside of an arbitral award are decisive in the analysis of whether it could be enforced in another state. Especially, if the grounds to set aside are not in line with the general practice of international arbitration, or if it is clear that the court ruling on the setting aside aims to favor its own citizens and, therefore, ruled to set aside, this should not have a negative effect on the enforcement. Another example to set aside in some states may be based on some procedural irregularities that are considered as substantial at the seat of arbitration, but which would not have an effect on the substance of the arbitral award. Instances such as the lack of signature of arbitrators on each page of the arbitral award, or the fact that the arbitral tribunal held a hearing on a national holiday, even though all of the witnesses attended the hearing, may be given as example. 4 Court of Appeal of Amsterdam, 28.04.2009, LJN BI2451; Van den Berg, Enforce- ment of Arbitral Awards Annulled in Russia, Case Comment on Court of Appeal of Amsterdam, April 28, 2009, Journal of International Arbitration, 27(2), 2010. 5 Van den Berg, Ibid, p.181.