Refusal to appoint an arbitrator in the context of international arbitration

Facts

The Portuguese company [X.] , in liquidation, filed a petition with the Court of First Instance of the canton of Geneva seeking the appointment of an arbitrator for a dispute with the Spanish company [Y. SA] . The Court of First Instance rejected the petition, considering that the parties were not bound by an arbitration agreement. The Court of Justice of the canton of Geneva declared the appeal filed by [X.] inadmissible, estimating that Geneva procedural law does not provide for any appeal against the judge's refusal to appoint an arbitrator.

[X.] filed a civil law appeal and a subsidiary constitutional appeal with the Federal Tribunal, challenging the Court of Justice's decision and requesting the appointment of an arbitrator.

Considerations

The Federal Tribunal examined the admissibility of the civil law appeal and considered that the Court of Justice's decision was a final decision that could be challenged by way of a civil law appeal. The Federal Tribunal also examined the appellant's grievances, including the violation of the principle of equality and good faith, as well as the violation of art. 179 para. 2 PILA.

The Federal Tribunal considered that the Court of Justice's interpretation of art. 458 para. 1 SBA gen. was defensible and did not manifestly disregard the will of the Geneva legislator. The…