Dallah Real Estate and Tourism Holding Company v. The Ministry of Religious Affairs, Government of Pakistan, 2010

UKSC 46 (3 November 2010), involved an attempt by a company (Dallah) operating in Saudi Arabia to enforce in

England a $20 million arbitration award in its favor against the Government of Pakistan (Pakistan). The International

Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”) arbitral tribunal sitting in Paris, France, had ruled that while Pakistan was not a signatory

to the agreement containing the arbitration clause, Pakistan was nevertheless bound by it and properly a party to the

arbitration. Accordingly, Dallah sought to enforce the award against Pakistan in England. Pakistan challenged

enforcement under section 103(2)(b) of the English Arbitration Act of 1996 (“1996 Act”) on the ground that “the

arbitration agreement was not valid…under the law of the country where the award was made” because under that law

Pakistan was not a party to it. The United Kingdom Supreme Court (“Court”) affirmed the decisions of the lower courts

to refuse to recognize and enforce the award.