REFUSING RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT ON GROUNDS OF PUBLIC POLICY AND NON-ARBITRABILITY IN KUWAIT

Foreign arbitral awards should be recognizable and enforceable. However, this is notalways the case; they are recognizable and enforceable in some countries but not in others.Those countries that recognize and enforce awards are mostly developed countries, whereasthose which do not are mainly developing countries.This study compares and contrasts therecognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Kuwait with a view to discoveringwhy its recognizable and enforceable. Three factors determining whether or not foreignarbitral awards are recognizable and enforceable are identified in this study. They are theavailability and adequacy of the legal framework, the attitude of the business community, andthe attitude of the courts. The inquiry, accordingly, focuses on an examination of those factorsin both countries. The examination reveals that the third factor is the determining elementregarding the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards