The New York Convention: How Arbitration Awards Are Enforced in 170+ Countries

When two parties in different countries reach a resolution through arbitration, a critical question arises: can that resolution actually be enforced if one party refuses to comply?

The answer, for most of the world, is yes — thanks to the New York Convention.

What Is the New York Convention?

The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, known as the New York Convention, was adopted in 1958 under the auspices of the United Nations. It is one of the most successful international commercial law treaties ever created.

In simple terms: when an arbitration award is made in one signatory country, courts in other signatory countries are required to recognise and enforce it — without relitigating the merits of the dispute.

This is a remarkable achievement. Before the Convention, enforcing a foreign arbitration award required navigating each country's domestic law independently, with no guarantee of success. The Convention created a uniform framework that makes cross-border enforcement predictable and reliable.

How Many Countries Have Signed?

As of 2026, over 170 countries have ratified the New York Convention. This includes virtually every major economy in the world:

• All EU member states
• United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia
• China, Japan, South Korea, India, Singapore
• Brazil, Mexico, Argentina
• UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar
• Russia, Ukraine, Turkey

The full list is maintained by UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law) at uncitral.org.

How Does Enforcement Work?

When a party wants to enforce a New York Convention award in a foreign country, the process is:

1. Apply to the local court in the country where enforcement is sought
2. Present the original arbitration award and arbitration agreement
3. The court reviews only whether the award meets basic procedural requirements
4. If it does, the court issues an enforcement order
5. The award is then enforceable as a local judgment — including through asset seizure if necessary

Importantly, the court does not review whether the arbitrator reached the right decision. It only checks whether the process was fair and the award meets formal requirements.

What Can Prevent Enforcement?

The Convention allows courts to refuse enforcement only in limited circumstances:

• The arbitration agreement was invalid
• The losing party was not given proper notice or an opportunity to present their case
• The award deals with matters outside the scope of the arbitration agreement
• The arbitration procedure was not in accordance with the agreement
• The award has not yet become binding, or has been set aside in the country where it was made
• Enforcement would violate the public policy of the enforcing country

These grounds are interpreted narrowly. Courts are generally reluctant to refuse enforcement — the purpose of the Convention is to make enforcement reliable.

What This Means for Cross-Border Commercial Disputes

For businesses involved in cross-border disputes, the New York Convention changes the calculation significantly.

Without it: winning a dispute in one country may be meaningless if the other party's assets are elsewhere and domestic courts will not recognise the foreign decision.

With it: a properly structured arbitration award can be enforced wherever the losing party has assets — in any of the 170+ signatory countries.

This is why structured dispute resolution that produces an enforceable award is so much more valuable than informal mediation for cross-border commercial matters.

How Akordans Uses the New York Convention

Akordans' Enforcement tier produces a consent arbitration award — a settlement agreed by both parties, recorded in the form of an arbitration award. When both parties are in New York Convention signatory countries, this award can be enforced through local courts in either country.

The process works as follows:

1. Both parties complete Akordans' AI mediation process and reach a settlement
2. The settlement is recorded as a consent arbitration award by Parley's nominated lawyer
3. The award is issued in accordance with expedited international arbitration rules
4. Either party can then present the award to courts in the other party's country for enforcement

Use Akordans' enforceability checker to see whether your specific country combination is covered.