The
Governments of the Member 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 provisions 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
Member 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- This
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.
For
each State ratifying or acceding to the
Convention after the deposit of the second
instrument of ratification, the Convention shall
enter into force on the thirtieth day after
deposit by such State of its instrument of
ratification or accession.
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 lumber 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 of January one thousand nine
hundred and seventy-five.