Court of Cassation, No. 12-16.224

Court of Cassation, First Civil Chamber, 26 June 2013, No. 12-16.224

Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation

Vs.

National Gas Company

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

Whereas, according to the judgment under appeal, the Egyptian National Gas Company signed, on 6 January 1999 with an amendment of 24 September 2001, a contract with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, a public establishment under Egyptian law managing gas and oil activities in Egypt. This contract concerned the supply of natural gas for two regions in the east of Egypt. The parity of the Egyptian pound was modified by a decree of 28 January 2003 of the Egyptian authorities, and the National Gas Company complained of an increase in its financial charges and then implemented the arbitration clause inserted in the contract. By an award of 12 September 2009, the arbitral tribunal ordered the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation to pay various sums to the National Gas Company;

On the third ground, hereinafter annexed:

Whereas the ground is not such as to allow the appeal to be admitted;

But on the first ground:

Having regard to articles 1520-4 and 1518 of the code of civil procedure;

Whereas, in order to reject the ground for annulment based on the violation of due process (in French Principe de la contradiction), the judgment holds that the arbitral tribunal is under no obligation to submit its reasoning beforehand to an adversarial discussion between the parties;

That in so deciding, whereas the arbitral tribunal based its decision on the non-referred provisions of Articles 21 and 27 of the CRCICA arbitration rules without an adversarial debate, the Court of Appeal violated the above-mentioned texts;

FOR THESE REASONS, and without the need to rule on the second ground:

REVERSE AND ANNUL, in its entirety, the judgment handed down on 24 November 2011 between the parties by the Paris Court of Appeal; return, consequently, the proceedings and the parties back to their status quo ante and, for the proceedings to be determined in accordance with the law, transmit them to the Versailles Court of Appeal.

Orders National Gas Company to pay the costs;

Pursuant to Article 700 of the Code of Civil Procedure, rejects its application and orders it to pay the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation the sum of 3,000 euros;

States that on the steps of the Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation, the present ruling will be transmitted to be transcribed in the margin or following the reversed ruling;

Thus done and judged by the Court of Cassation, First Civil Chamber, and pronounced by the President in its public hearing of the twenty-sixth of June two thousand and thirteen.