SETTING ASIDE ARBITRAL AWARDS: IRANIAN LAW AND MODEL LAW COMPARED

Abstract

Iran ’s 1997 Law on International Commercial Arbitration (LICA) essentially f ollows the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration of 1985 both in structure and substance. There are, however, diff erences of varying degrees of importance between the two documents. This article deals with one of the areas in which the LICA diff ers f rom the Model Law in certain aspects, namely the setting aside of an arbitral award. The article critically compares the setting aside provisions in the Model Law and Iran ’s LICA to see how important the diff erences between the two texts are. The LICA contains all the grounds f ound in the Model Law with respect to the setting aside of an arbitral award although the way some of these grounds are worded in the LICA is less clear compared to the Model Law. Further, the LICA contains three additional grounds which are not f ound in the Model Law. These additional grounds, however, do not have a signif icant value-added since the concerns they address could well have been raised under the "public policy " ground.