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Case 351: MAL: 36
Canada: British Columbia Supreme Court (Drossos J.)
Food Services of America Inc. (c.o.b. Amerifresh) v. Pan Pacific Specialties Ltd.
March 24, 1997
Original in English
Published in English: [1997] B.C.J. No. 1921, (1997) 32 B.C.L.R. (3d) 225
This was an action to enforce an arbitral award rendered in the United States of America. The plaintiff was a Delaware corporation and the defendant was registered in British Columbia. An arbitration award was made pursuant to an agreement between the parties to conduct arbitration under the International Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association. Through this agreement the parties specified that any court having jurisdiction could judge on the award. The question was to know if legislation precluded the applicant from bringing the proceedings in that an extra- provincial company, not meeting the statute's registration requirements, could not enter a proceeding in any court in the province pursuant to any contract made in the province. In addition, in their agreement, the parties had waived section 36 of the International Commercial Arbitration Act which provided grounds for a party to oppose enforcement.
The British Columbia Supreme Court allowed the application. The applicant could bring the proceeding since they were brought not on a contractual basis, but to enforce an international commercial arbitration award. Furthermore, the waiver was not limited to situations where there had been no jurisdictional or procedural breach by the arbitrators. Here the parties had waived any right to oppose enforcement stemming from section 36 of the International Commercial Arbitration Act. Hence, the respondent could not resort to any ground for opposing enforcement.
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