Enforcement of New York Convention awards: security for the award

Lord Mance, delivering the judgment of the Supreme Court in IPCO (Nigeria) Ltd v Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation [2017] UKSC 16, has decided that the English court has no general power to order an award debtor to provide security for the amount of a New York Convention award as a condition of being allowed to defend enforcement proceedings. In conformity with the New York Convention, that power is confined to the situation where the enforcement proceedings are adjourned pending the outcome of a challenge to an award in the curial courts.

The issue arose as the result of a complex set of proceedings running for over 12 years. The substantive issue, whether the enforcement of the award can be refused on public policy grounds, has yet to be determined by the English courts.