Maureen Irish, “The Review of International Commercial Arbitral Awards and the New York Convention: Breaking the Link to Administrative Law” (2021) 52(2) Ottawa Law Review 157–203.
Abstract
The enforcement of international commercial arbitral awards in Canada takes place pursuant to Canada’s obligations in the 1958 Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. Review of these awards in Canadian courts should be mindful of this basis in an international treaty. Standards of review should not be drawn from Canadian administrative law, as has happened in some recent cases. The Vavilov decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in 2019 confirms the unsuitability of domestic administrative law for the review of international arbitral awards. Analysis and decisions in Canadian courts are not solely for a domestic audience, but are part of a global exchange with courts in other jurisdictions subject to the same treaty obligations.