CCA 10/119
This case involved the Egyptian Courts' jurisdiction to rule on the setting aside of a foreign arbitration award.
Background
On 24 May 2001, an award was issued in South Korea under the Rules of the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board. The award ordered an individual Abdel-Al to pay damages to a Corporation. On 10 February 2002, the individual sought an annulment of the award before the Cairo Court of Appeal. The Cairo Court of Appeal held that it lacked jurisdiction to rule on the request. It noted that the application of the Egyptian Arbitration Law was limited by Article 1 to arbitration proceedings held in Egypt and international arbitration proceedings which the parties had agreed to submit to the Egyptian Arbitration Law. The Court added that it was a general principle that the jurisdiction of State Courts was limited to requests for setting aside arbitral awards which are issued within the State's territory and that, as Egypt had acceded to the New York Convention by Egypt Presidential Decree No. 171/1959, the Convention was applicable as was any other law of the Egyptian State, even when it contradicted the Egyptian Code of Civil and Commercial Procedure or the Arbitration Law.