The legal autonomy of the international arbitral award with respect to the seat of the arbitration: an analysis from the New York Convention 1958

The importance and practical effect of the CNY is undisputed since long ago. The CNY has regulated, directly or impliedly, all fundamental pillars of international arbitration, providing a uniform legal framework for the development of this alternative dispute resolution mechanism. The CNY has obliged its Contracting States to recognize and enforce arbitration agreements and awards regardless of their parochial regulations and interests. Thus, because of its almost universal scope, the CNY has reached extraordinary relevance. Jointly with its relevance, the CNY has provided additional grounds in order to sustain the existence of an autonomous arbitral jurisdiction that would differ from the legal orders of each individual Contracting State. This approach has achieved even more relevance as it has been endorsed by scholars, practitioners and the judiciary of several countries –being its greatest exponent the French jurisdiction. In the view of the practical consequences of this debate, this thesis will address (CAP 1) a review of the CNY and its main provisions suggesting the “constitutional status” of the CNY, (CAP 2) the philosophical models of international arbitration, (CAP 3) the phenomenon of the enforcement of annulled arbitral awards by the national courts, and (CAP 4) the legal autonomy of the award rendered in an international arbitration from the seat of the arbitration.