Originally from International Arbitration Court Decisions - 3rd Edition

DECISION BY THE PARIS COURT OF APPEAL

RENDERED ON 18 NOVEMBER 2004 IN CASE NO. 2002/60932

Subject Matter:
Whether an arbitral award should be set aside on the ground that the award violated public policy consisting of EC Competition law (Article 81 of the EC Treaty (“EC”); currently Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“TFEU”)) which should have been applied by the arbitral tribunal ex officio.

Finding:
The court accepted that Article 81 EC [Article 101 TFEU] is part of French public policy. However, in the absence of fraud or an obvious violation of public policy, a court dealing with an application for setting aside may not conduct a full scale investigation, because an alleged violation of a mandatory rule in the international sense does not justify the violation of the fundamental procedural French rule that prohibits a full review of the arbitration proceedings. The court rejected the application for annulment.

Parties:
Claimant: S.A. Thalès Air Defence
Respondents: G.I.E. Euromissile et al.
Place of Court Proceedings:
Paris, France

Arbitration Rules:
ICC Arbitration Rules

Applicable Law:
Articles 1502(5) and 1504 of the French Civil Procedural Code