The ECJ has ruled that Regulation 44/2001 (the Brussels I Regulation) does not govern the recognition and enforcement in a Member State of an arbitral award issued by an arbitral tribunal in another Member State.
The ECJ was requested by a Lithuanian court to give a preliminary ruling on whether the Brussels I Regulation should be interpreted as precluding a court of a Member State from recognising and enforcing, or from refusing to recognise and enforce, an arbitral award prohibiting a party from bringing certain claims before a court of that Member State.
The ECJ held as follows:
- Proceedings for the recognition and enforcement of an arbitral award were covered by the national and international law applicable in the Member State in which recognition and enforcement were sought, not by the Brussels I Regulation.
- Consequently, the Brussels I Regulation should be interpreted as not precluding a court of a Member State from recognising and enforcing, or from refusing to recognise and enforce, an arbitral award prohibiting a party from bringing certain claims before a court of that Member State. This was because the regulation did not govern the recognition and enforcement in a Member State of an arbitral award issued by an arbitral tribunal in another Member State.
Case C-536/13 Gazprom OAO v Lithuania, 13 May 2015
