The statute of limitations for enforcing international arbitration awards in the United States is shorter than that for enforcing judgments. If the former period has run, can one turn an arbitration award into a judgment outside the United States and then use the longer period to enforce the award that has now metamorphosed into a foreign judgment? This article addresses that question, which was recently answered in opposite ways by the district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Comm’ns Import Exp. v. Republic of the Congo, 2014 U.S. App. Lexis 13158 (D.C. Cir. July 11, 2014).
Enforcement Under the FAA
Chapter 2 of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) implements the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the New York Convention), 21 U.S.T. 2517, 330 U.N.T.S. 38. Chapter 2 provides in 9 U.S.C. §201 that the Convention “shall be enforced in United States courts in accordance with this chapter,” and Section 202 limits the application of the Convention to international commercial disputes. The chapter also establishes a federal forum for disputes concerning arbitrations falling under the Convention, see id. §§203–204. Of significance here, it imposes a time limit for seeking confirmation of an arbitral award. Section 207 provides:
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