Court of Cassation, No. 00-12.173

Court of Cassation, First Civil Chamber, 29 January 2002, No. 00-12.173

MR. Y

Vs.

SOCIETE GENERALE DE SURVEILLANCE HOLDING (SGS)

THE COURT OF CASSATION, FIRST CIVIL CHAMBER, rendered the following judgment:

On the sole ground of appeal, in its four parts:

Whereas Mr Y… complains that the judgment under appeal (Paris, 9 November 1999) dismissed his request for annulment of the arbitration award made in Paris on 30 March 1998 based on the dispute between him and Société Générale de surveillance holding (SGS and French for General Society of Surveillance), whereas, according to the ground of appeal:

1 / that by deciding on the basis of grounds that did not answer the disputed issue of the impact on the impartiality of the arbitral tribunal of the elements relating to the personal and professional relations that existed between Mr. Z…, arbitrator, and Mr. Horsmans, president of this tribunal, the Court of Appeal breached Article 455 of the New Code of Civil Procedure, with Article 4 and Article 1502-2 and 1502-5 of the same Code ;

2 / that the Court of Appeal breached the same texts when it did not rule on the ground of appeal based on the false assertions of Mr. X… and Mr. Z… according to which they had never collaborated in professional activities or scientific work;

3 / that by refraining itself from verifying in this context the regularity of the composition of the arbitral tribunal and the conduct of the arbitral proceedings, the Court of Appeal deprived its decision of a legal basis in the light of Article 1502-2 and 1502-5 of the New Code of Civil Procedure;

4 / by not providing any explanation on the elements which, according to Mr. Y…, confirmed the lack of impartiality of the arbitral tribunal about him, the Court of Appeal violated Article 455 of the New Code of Civil Procedure, together with Article 1502, 2 and 5 of the same Code;

But whereas, after having only noted their participation in colloquiums or work in the field of arbitration, excluding any collaboration, the Court of Appeal noted with discretion that Mr. Y… did not provide evidence of the existence of a subordinate relationship between the chairman of the arbitral tribunal and his co-arbitrator, from which could be deduced that they were not sufficiently independent-minded and impartial to carry out their task of judging; it decided exactly that, under the guise of an indistinct criticism of the grounds of the award, Mr. Y… questioned the reasoning of the arbitrators, the relevance of which is beyond the scope of the annulment judge; thus, the decision cannot be affected by any ground of appeal;

FOR THESE REASONS:

Dismisses the appeals (in French Pourvois en cassation);

Orders Mr. Y… to pay the costs;

Pursuant to Article 700 of the New Code of Civil Procedure, dismisses the claims of Société Générale de surveillance Holding (SGS);

Thus, made and judged by the Court of Cassation, First Civil Division, and pronounced by the President in its public hearing of twenty-nine January two thousand and two.