Admissibility of waiver of appeal after issuance of the internal arbitration award

Facts

In this case, there was a legal dispute between Company A AG and Company B AG. After the issuance of the internal arbitration award on June 24, 2016, the legal representative of Company A AG informed the representative of Company B AG that his client had decided not to file an appeal to the Federal Supreme Court. Company B AG confirmed the waiver of legal remedies.

The question was whether such a waiver of the appeal after the issuance of the arbitration award is admissible. The Federal Supreme Court concluded that a waiver of the challenge to the arbitral award is generally possible, provided that it is made voluntarily and without defects of will.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court stated that the parties to an internal arbitration procedure cannot waive the challenge of the arbitral award in advance, but they can bindingly waive the filing of the appeal after the issuance of the decision. Such a waiver is a declaration of intent that must be interpreted according to the general…