Court of Cassation, No. 97-16.276

Court of Cassation, First Civil Chamber, 15 July 1999, No. 97-16.276

Société Eiffage

Vs.

Société Butec

On the first ground, taken in its four parts :

The French company Eiffage challenges the judgment under appeal (Paris, 17 June 1997), which dismissed the action for annulment of an arbitral award made in Paris in the dispute arose between the French company Eiffage and the Lebanese company Butec, and which concerns works contracts in Lebanon. The claimant objects to the decision of Court of Appeal which decided that the award was rendered within the time limit for rendering the award, on 7 September 1995, thereby distorting the arbitration rules of the ICC and disregarding its own finding that one of the three arbitrators signed the award after 7 September 1995. This further breaches Article 1502-1 and 1502-5 of the new Code of Civil Procedure. Thus, the judge, due to the uncertainty of the date of the award, was not able to verify that the time limit for rendering the award had been respected, as well as breaching the provisions of articles 1472 and 1480 of the same Code, applicable in the case at hand at to the Terms of Reference.

However, first, the ground fails in view of the provisions of article 1502, since the complaints concerning the date and the signature of the arbitral award do not constitute grounds for annulment in international arbitration matters.

Second, the Court of Appeal discretionally found, without altering the arbitration rules that were subject to interpretation on the point under discussion, that the award, signed in Paris on 7 September 1995 by the president of the arbitral tribunal and by one of the three arbitrators on 2 October 1995, was rendered before the expiry of the arbitration period, set for 31 October 1995, specifying, correctly, that the circumstance that the award was not signed the same day by all the arbitrators had no effect on its regularity;

That the ground is therefore unfounded.

And on the second ground, taken in its two parts, of a refusal by the Court of Appeal to seek the contradiction and the lack of grounds affecting the arbitral award: (without interest);

FOR THESE REASONS:

DISMISSES the appeal.