Author Description

Article VI of the New York Convention empowers enforcement courts with discretion over adjournment requests brought by the losing party to an arbitration in response to the winning party's application to enforce an arbitral award. In exercising this discretion, courts in different Contracting States do not agree on the applicable factors to be considered. This thesis analyzes the factors courts do and should consider in exercising this discretion. Two conflicting concerns of the New York Convention, namely the elimination of the "double exequatur" requirement and the exercise of judicial control over arbitral awards by the court in the country of origin should be considered in determining appropriate factors and standards. The thesis then adopts textual analysis to identify problems within the provision. An analysis of factors and standards in the case law follows, along with a discussion of the real and deciding factors in exercising the discretion under Article VI.