ERDEM-NEWSLETTER-2018-metin

130 NEWSLETTER 2018 Geneva treaties, and the regime they provided, were burdensome and, thus, led to the start of the work on the draft of the Convention 2 . The International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”) was the first to com- mence this work, and established a ‘Preliminary Draft Convention’ in 1953. In the following year, the United Nations Economic and Social Council established the Committee on the Enforcement of Internation- al Arbitral Awards, and replaced the ICC. The Committee produced a draft on 18 March 1955. This draft formed the basis of the New York Convention and the text of the Convention was provisionally ap- proved on 9 June 1958 following discussions and comments received from different countries. The New York Convention is accepted as a ‘substantial improvement, since it provides for a simpler and more effective method of obtaining recognition and enforcement of foreign awards’ and that ‘it gives much wider effect to the validity of arbitra- tion agreements than that given under the Protocols’ 3 . The Scope of the Convention The Convention deals with two main issues: the recognition and enforcement of (i) arbitration agreements and (ii) foreign arbitral awards; namely, those awards made in other jurisdictions, and sets out the requirements for the same. Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitration Agreements Article II of the Convention is the relevant article that deals with the enforcement of arbitration agreements, and sets out the maximum requirements for a valid arbitration agreement. This means that arbi- tration agreements cannot be submitted to stricter requirements under national laws. Therefore, any arbitration agreement which fulfills the form requirement of Article II (2) of the Convention must be enforced by the courts of a contracting state, regardless of any stricter form 2 Article VII(2) of the New York Convention expressly states that the Geneva trea- ties shall cease to have effect between the Contracting States on their becoming bound and, to the extent that they become bound, by this Convention. 3 Chapter 11, Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards’, in Nigel Blacka- by, Constantine Partasides et al., Redfern and Hunter on International Arbitration 6th ed., (© Kluwer Law International; Oxford University Press 2015) pp. 605 – 662.