Masinimport v Scottish Mechanical Light Industries Ltd
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judgment Date | 30 January 1976 |
| Docket Number | No. 9. |
| Date | 30 January 1976 |
| Court | Court of Session (Outer House) |
OUTER HOUSE.
Lord Keith.
International LawMultilateral treatiesTreaty of Peace with Romania 10th February 1947Effect of war on pre-war treaties and Orders in Council.
International LawForeign decree arbitralEnforcementFraud and duressPublic PolicyRelevancyArbitration Act, 1950 (14 Geo. VI, cap 27), sec. 35.
ArbitrationForeign arbitration committeeProcedure before committeePublic policy.
The Arbitration Act 1950 provides by sec. 35 "(3) any Order in Council made under section 1 of the Arbitration (Foreign Awards) Act 1930 which is in force at the commencement of this Act shall have effect as if it had been made under this section "
The pursuers who were the Romanian State Enterprise for Foreign Trade contracted with the defenders who were a Scottish company for the sale by the defenders to the pursuers of certain machinery which was to be installed in Romania. The contract contained a provision for arbitration in Romania in the event of disputes arising. As a result of the pursuers' dissatisfaction with the machinery an arbitration was held in Bucharest at which both parties were represented. The arbitration committee subsequently issued an award in favour of the pursuers finding that they were entitled to rescind the contract and that the defenders were liable to pay them 84,924.
The pursuers raised an action in Scotland to enforce their award founding upon sec. 35 (quoted above). On 26th September 1927 a convention was signed at Geneva whereby the signatories agreed to recognise and enforce decrees arbitral pronounced in the territories of each other. In terms of two Orders in Council in 1930 and 1931 (which had never been revoked), the United Kingdom and Romania became territories to which the Geneva Convention applied and His Britannic Majesty and His Majesty the King of Romania were declared parties to the Convention. The defenders alleged that in 1939 war broke out between the United Kingdom, and Romania, that in 1947 the King of Romania abdicated and that since then there had been no king in Romania. It was further alleged that by 1947 the geographical territory of Romania had altered since 1931 and parts of it had been ceded by treaty to Russia and Bulgaria. By a communication to the Romanian Minister for Foreign Affairs dated 13th March 1948 the United Kingdom Government gave notice that certain treaties with Romania were to be revived. The arbitration protocol was but one of the treaties mentioned.
The defenders also alleged that there were a number of irregularities about the way certain evidence led before the arbitration committee had been obtained. They alleged that certain entries in a notebook had been materially altered and enlarged without their knowledge and that two of their employees had been subjected to duress and pressure and made to sign a material document. They further alleged that the committee had appointed...
To continue reading
Request your trial