Arbitration News-Hague Service Convention Does not Apply to Arbitration Documents
(Article by Dr. A. Tsavdaridis, published in the Arbitration Newsletter of the ILO on August 22, 2013)
Facts
In 2008 a Chinese company entered into two agreements for the sale of around 60 tons
of pistachio nuts to a Greek company. Although the Chinese company delivered the
goods, the Greek company did not fulfil its obligation to pay the agreed price. The
Chinese company decided to resort to the dispute resolution mechanism provided in
the agreements. Both agreements provided for arbitration in Beijing under CIETAC’s
2005 Arbitration Rules. The arbitral tribunal was constituted in June 2009, proceeded to
a hearing, which applied the Vienna Convention 1980 on the International Sale of
Goods and Incoterms 2000, and issued its award in October 2009. This award ordered
the respondent Greek company to pay the price with interest and costs, although the
respondent did not appear or in any way participate in the arbitration.
The Chinese company sought to enforce the award in Greece under the New York
Convention. The Greek company resisted enforcement, claiming, among other things,
that it had not been properly informed of the appointment of the arbitrator, and in
general of the commencement and course of the arbitration, in breach of Article 5(1)(b)
of the New York Convention,(1) as:
l it was not notified in accordance with the Hague Convention, but only by courier; and
l the various arbitration documents were not notified in Greek, but only in the Chinese
original and the English translation.
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