Opinion ID: 3048411
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Enforcement of Arbitration Agreements

Text: We start with the New York Convention referenced in Lindo’s Contract. In 1958, the United Nations Economic and Social Council adopted the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, more commonly known as the New York Convention. In 1970, the United States acceded to the treaty, which was subsequently implemented by Chapter 2 of the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), 9 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. The Convention requires contracting states, such as the United States, to recognize written arbitration agreements concerning subject matter capable of settlement by arbitration: Each Contracting State shall recognize an agreement in writing under which the parties undertake to submit to arbitration all or any differences which have arisen or which may arise between them in respect of a defined legal relationship, whether contractual or not, concerning a subject matter capable of settlement by arbitration. 7 New York Convention, art. II(1) (emphasis added). Both Nicaragua (where Lindo is a citizen) and the Bahamas (whose law Lindo agreed to in his Contract) are also signatories to the Convention. Section 201 of the FAA provides that the Convention shall be enforced in U.S. courts: “The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of June 10, 1958, shall be enforced in United States courts in accordance with this chapter.” 9 U.S.C. § 201 (emphasis added); see also Indus. Risk Insurers v. M.A.N. Gutehoffnungshutte GmbH, 141 F.3d 1434, 1440 (11th Cir. 1998) (“As an exercise of the Congress’ treaty power and as federal law, the Convention must be enforced according to its terms over all prior inconsistent rules of law.” (quotation marks omitted)). The Supreme Court has stated that “[t]he goal of the Convention, and the principal purpose underlying American adoption and implementation of it, was to encourage the recognition and enforcement of commercial arbitration agreements in international contracts and to unify the standards by which agreements to arbitrate are observed and arbitral awards are enforced in the signatory countries.” Scherk v. Alberto-Culver Co., 417 U.S. 506, 520 n.15, 94 S. Ct. 2449, 2457 n.15 (1974).