Valid arbitral awards can withstand untimely collateral attacks, as Andreas Dracoulis & Matthew Turner demonstrate
- English law conflict rules will not readily permit a party to rely upon its local law to circumvent the consequences of an otherwise enforceable contract.
The Commercial Court decision in Exportadora de Sal S.A. de C.V. v Corretaje Maritimo Sud-Americano Inc [2018] EWHC 224 (Comm), [2018] All ER (D) 93 (Feb) is a salutary reminder of the need to act promptly in jurisdictional challenges and a welcome example of the English courts’ support of arbitration.
The proceedings arose out of an English law shipbuilding contract for the construction of a self-unloading salt barge (the SBC) concluded between Exportadora De Sal S.A. De C.V. (ESSA) and Corretaje Maritimo Sud-Americano Inc (CMSA). ESSA is a partially state owned Mexican salt mining corporation which, for the purposes of Mexican law, is treated as a state entity.
When ESSA failed to pay the second instalment CMSA terminated the contract and commenced LMAA arbitration proceedings claiming the outstanding instalments. ESSA took no part in the arbitration
