Facts
The [X. AG] with registered office in [S.] (the appellant) ordered on 7 October 1992 from [Z.] a.s., the legal predecessor of [Y.] a.s. (the respondent) with registered office in [T.] in today's Czech Republic 10,000 tons of steel sheet iron. The parties agreed on an arbitration clause. The respondent filed a claim with the Arbitration Court of the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic and the Agrarian Chamber of the Czech Republic in 1996. The Arbitration Court ordered the appellant in 1998 to pay USD 685,418.58 and additional costs. The respondent enforced the appellant based on this arbitral award. The appellant filed an objection to enforcement. The High Court of the Canton of Zurich declared the arbitral award enforceable and granted the respondent definitive enforcement.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court examined whether the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards precludes the recognition and enforcement of the arbitral award. It concluded that the Convention does not prohibit this, even though the appellant had withdrawn and later resubmitted the arbitral award. The Federal Supreme Court also denied that the arbitral award violates public policy, as the appellant did not demonstrate circumstances that would constitute an intolerable violation of the Swiss legal order.
Furthermore…