Vol. 13 No.1:Towards a Better Commercial Arbitration: Should Ethiopia Ratify the New York Convention?

Abstract

The 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral awards is currently ratified by 161 states. The Convention gives a visa for arbitral awards made in a Convention state and guarantees enforcement of the award elsewhere except on few grounds. It imposes obligations on states and their courts to recognize and enforce foreign arbitral awards and arbitration agreements. It also imposes on courts the obligation to stay proceeding with a matter subject to the arbitration agreement. Ethiopia has not yet ratified the NYC. This article aims at demonstrating the challenges and prospects of ratification of the Convention by Ethiopia. I argue that by ratifying the Convention, Ethiopia would be able to, inter alia, increase trade and investment, get access to lower interest rates and rates of return, improve its international image, improve on competition for trade and investment, improve its arbitration system, decrease caseloads of courts and hasten its move towards the accession to WTO. These factors show that it is in the country's interest to ratify the Convention and domesticate it through the instrumentality of the UNCITRAL Model Law.