The Inter-American Convention
on International Commercial Arbitration
Preamble
The Government of the Members States of the Organization of
American States, desirous of concluding a convention on international
commercial arbitration, have agreed as follows:
Article 1
An agreement in which the parties undertake to submit to
arbitral decision any differences that may arise or have
arisen between
them with respect to a commercial transaction is valid.
The agreement shall be set forth in an instrument signed
by the
parties, or in the form of an exchange of letters,
telegrams, or telex communications.
Article 2
Arbitrators shall be appointed in the manner agreed
upon by the parties. Their appointment may be delegated
to a third
party, whether a natural or juridical person. Arbitrators
may be nationals or foreigners.
Article 3
In the absence of an express agreement between
the parties, the arbitration shall be conducted
in accordance
with the Rules
of Procedure of the Inter-American Commercial Arbitration
Commission.
Article 4
An arbitral decision or award that is not appealable
under the applicable law or procedural rules
shall have the force
of a final judicial judgment. Its execution or
recognition may be ordered in the same manner
as that of decisions
handed down by national or foreign ordinary courts,
in accordance
with the procedural laws of the country where
it is to be executed and the provision of international
treaties.
Article 5
1. The recognition and execution of the decision
may be refused, at the request of the party
against which
it is made, only
if such party is able to prove to the competent
authority of the State in which recognition
and execution are
requested.
a. That the parties to the agreement were subject
to some incapacity under the applicable law
or that the
agreement is not valid
under the law to which the parties have submitted
it, or if such law is not specified, under
the law of the
State in which
the decision was made; or
b. That the party against which the arbitral
decision has been made was not duly notified
of the appointment
of the arbitrator
or of the arbitration procedure to be followed,
or was unable, for any other reason, to present
his
defense; or
c. That the decision concerns a dispute not
envisaged in the agreement between the parties
to submit
to arbitration; nevertheless,
if the provisions of the decision that refer
to issues submitted to arbitration can be separated
from those
not submitted to
arbitration, the former may be recognized and
executed;
or
d. That the constitution of the arbitral tribunal
or the arbitration procedure has not been carried
out
in accordance with the terms
of the agreement signed by the parties or,
in the absence of such agreement, that the
constitution
of the arbitral
tribunal
or the arbitration procedure has not been carried
out in accordance with the law of the State
where the arbitration
took place;
or
e. That the decision is not yet binding on
the parties or has been annulled or suspended
by
a competent
authority of the
State in which, or according to the law of
which, the decision has been made.
2. The recognition and execution of an arbitral
decision may also be refused if the competent
authority of
the State in
which the recognition and execution is requested
finds:
a. That the subject of the dispute cannot be
settled by arbitration under the law of that
State; or
b. That the recognition or execution of the
decision would be contrary to the public policy
("order public")
of that State.
Article 6
If the competent authority mentioned in article
5.1.e has been requested to annul or suspend
the arbitral
decision, the authority
before which such decision is invoked may,
if it deems it appropriate, postpone a decision
on the
execution
of the arbitral decision
and, at the request of the party requesting
execution,
may also instruct the other party to provide
appropriate guaranties.
Article 7
This Convention shall be open for signature
by the Members States of the Organization of
American
States.
Article 8
This Convention is subject to ratification.
The instruments of ratification shall be
deposited with the General
Secretariat of the Organization of American
States.
Article 9
The Convention shall remain open for accession
by any other State. The instruments of
accession shall
be
deposited with
the General Secretariat of the Organization
of American States.
Article 10
This Convention shall enter into force
on the thirtieth day following the date
of deposit
of the second
instrument of ratification.
Article 11
If a State Party has two or more territorial
units in which different systems of
law apply in relation
to the matters dealt
with in this Convention, it may, at
the time of signature, ratification or accession
declare
that
this Convention
shall extend to all its territorial
units or only to one or more
of them.
Such declaration may be modified by
subsequent declarations, which shall
expressly indicate
the territorial unit
or units to which the Convention applies.
Such subsequent declarations
shall be transmitted to the General
Secretariat of the Organization of
American States,
and shall become
effective thirty days
after the date of their receipt.
Article 12
This Convention shall remain in force
indefinitely, but any of the States'
Parties may denounce
it. The instrument of denunciation
shall be deposited with the General
Secretariat of the Organization of
American States.
After one year
from the date of deposit
of the instrument of denunciation,
the Convention shall no longer be
in effect
for the denouncing
State, but
shall remain
in effect for the other States' Parties.
Article 13
The original instrument of this Convention,
the English, French, Portuguese
and Spanish texts
of which are
equally authentic,
shall be deposited with the General
Secretariat of the Organization
of American States.
The Secretariat shall notify the
Member States of the Organization
of American
States
and the States that have acceded
to the Convention of
the signatures,
deposits
of instruments of ratification,
accession, and denunciation as well as of reservations,
if any.
It shall also
transmit the declarations referred
to in Article 11 of this
Convention.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned
Plenipotentiaries, being duly
authorized thereto by their
respective Governments, have
signed this Convention.
DONE AT PANAMA CITY, Republic
of Panama, this thirtieth day
or January
one thousand
nine
hundred and seventy
five.
B-35: INTER-AMERICAN CONVENTION
ON INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION
ADOPTED AT: PANAMA,
PANAMA
DATE: 01/30/75
CONF/ASSEM/MEETING: INTER-AMERICAN
SPECIALIZED
CONFERENCE ON
PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL
LAW
ENTRY
INTO FORCE: 06/16/76 IN
ACCORDANCE WITH
ARTICLE 10
OF THE
CONVENTION.
DEPOSITORY:
GENERAL SECRETARIAT,
OAS (ORIGINAL
INSTRUMENT AND RATIFICATIONS).
TEXT: OAS, TREATY SERIES, NO.
42.
UN
REGISTRATION: 03/20/89 No.
24384 Vol.
OBSERVATIONS: This Convention shall remain
open for signature
by the
Member States
of the OAS
and for
accession by any other
State.
GENERAL INFORMATION
OF THE TREATY: B-35
SIGNATORY
COUNTRIES |
SIGNATURE |
REF |
RA/AC/AD |
REF |
DEPOSIT |
INST |
INFORMA |
REF |
Argentina |
03/15/91 |
|
11/03/94 |
|
01/05/95 |
RA |
/ / |
|
Bolivia |
08/02/83 |
|
10/08/98 |
|
04/29/99 |
RA |
/ / |
|
Brazil |
01/30/75 |
|
08/31/95 |
|
11/27/95 |
RA |
/ / |
|
Chile |
01/30/75 |
|
04/08/76 |
|
05/17/76 |
RA |
/ / |
|
Colombia |
01/30/75 |
|
11/18/86 |
|
12/29/86 |
RA |
/ / |
|
Costa Rica |
01/30/75 |
|
01/02/78 |
|
01/20/78 |
RA |
/ / |
|
Dominican Republic |
04/18/77 |
|
/ / |
|
/ / |
|
/ / |
|
Ecuador |
01/30/75 |
|
08/06/91 |
|
10/23/91 |
RA |
/ / |
|
El Salvador |
01/30/75 |
|
06/27/80 |
|
08/11/80 |
RA |
/ / |
|
Guatemala |
01/30/75 |
|
07/07/86 |
|
08/20/86 |
RA |
/ / |
|
Honduras |
01/30/75 |
|
01/08/76 |
|
03/22/79 |
RA |
/ / |
|
Mexico |
10/27/77 |
1 |
02/15/78 |
|
03/27/78 |
RA |
/ / |
|
Nicaragua |
01/30/75 |
|
/ / |
|
/ / |
|
/ / |
|
Panama |
01/30/75 |
|
11/11/75 |
|
12/17/75 |
RA |
/ / |
|
Paraguay |
08/26/75 |
1 |
12/02/76 |
|
12/15/76 |
RA |
/ / |
|
Peru |
04/21/88 |
|
05/02/89 |
|
05/22/89 |
RA |
/ / |
|
United States |
06/09/78 |
|
11/10/86 |
a |
09/27/90 |
RA |
/ / |
|
Uruguay |
01/30/75 |
|
03/29/77 |
|
04/25/77 |
RA |
/ / |
|
Venezuela |
01/30/75 |
|
03/22/85 |
|
05/16/85 |
RA |
/ / |
|
REF = REFERENCE
D = DECLARATION
R = RESERVATION
|
INST = TYPE OF INSTRUMENT
RA = RATIFICATION
AC = ACCEPTANCE
AD = ACCESSION
|
INFORMA = INFORMATION REQUIRED BY THE TREATY |
REF
= REFERENCE
D =
DECLARATIONR =
RESERVATION INST
= TYPE
OF INSTRUMENT
RA =
RATIFICATIONAC =
ACCEPTANCEAD =
ACCESSION
INFORMA
= INFORMATION
REQUIRED BY
THE TREATY
B-35.
INTER-AMERICAN CONVENTION
ON INTERNATIONAL
COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION
a.
United States:
(Reservations
made at
the time
of ratification)
In
accordance with
Article 8
of the
Convention, the
instrument of
ratification of
the government
of the
United States
of America was deposited
with the Secretary General
of
the Organization of American
States on September
27, 1990.
In
ratifying the
Convention, the
government of the United
States
of America made the
following reservations.
1. Unless there is an express agreement among the parties to an arbitration
agreement to the contrary, where the requirements
for application of both the Inter-American Convention on International Commercial
Arbitration and the
Convention
on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign
Arbitral Awards are met, if a majority of such parties are citizens of a state
or states
that have ratified
or acceded
to the Inter-American Convention and are member
states of the Organization of American States, the Inter-American Convention
shall apply. In all other
cases,
the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement
of Foreign Arbitral Awards shall apply.
2. The United States of America will apply the
rules of procedure of the Inter-American Commercial
Arbitration
Commission which are in effect on the date that
the United States of America
deposits its instrument of
ratification, unless the United States of America makes a later
official determination
to adopt
and apply subsequent amendments
to such
rules.
3. The United States of America will apply
the Convention, on the basis
of reciprocity, to the
recognition and
enforcement of only those awards
made in the territory of another
Contracting State."