Parties should specify which law governs their agreement-including any agreement to arbitrate-following a recent Court of Appeal ruling, says Lisa Peatfield, a solicitor at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP.

In Dallah Real Estate and Tourism Holding Co v The Ministry of Religious Affairs, Government of Pakistan [2009] EWCA Civ 755 the court unusually refused to enforce an award of an international arbitral tribunal.

It found the award was invalid under the Arbitration Act 1996 (AA 1996), s 103, which specifies the grounds on which recognition or enforcement of an international arbitral award may be refused.

Peatfield says the central issue was whether Dallah could enforce an arbitration award against the government of Pakistan in England in circumstances where the Pakistani government was not expressed to be a party to the agreement by which Dallah and a third party, the Awami Hajj Trust, agreed to settle disputes by ICC arbitration.