Clifford Chance

Australian court signals restrictive approach to sovereign immunity in enforcement action against Spain

29 August 2019

In the first decision of its kind, an Australian court has temporarily stayed the enforcement of a €101 million international arbitral award against the Kingdom of Spain ,confirming Australia as an increasingly favourable site for the enforcement of arbitral awards against foreign states. The stay was requested by the award creditors and, somewhat counter-intuitively, opposed by Spain (the award debtor). The issues before the Court included a claim by Spain to sovereign immunity from the jurisdiction of the Australian courts. 

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