Spain cannot use state immunity to undo the Singapore registration of an ICSID award obtained by two Dutch NextEra companies, the Court of Appeal ruled on October 19.
The court dismissed Spain’s appeal and awarded the investors S$50,000 in appeal costs. The award arose from their investments in Spain and had survived an unsuccessful annulment application within the ICSID system.
Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, delivering the court’s decision, said Spain’s accession to the ICSID Convention amounted to submission to the jurisdiction of other contracting states’ courts for recognition and enforcement. That brought the case within section 4 of Singapore’s State Immunity Act.
The court did not need to decide whether the separate arbitration exception also applied. It rejected an attempt to reopen the tribunal’s jurisdiction through Singapore’s implementing legislation.
The final appellate decision concerns registration of the award, not a fresh adjudication of the investment dispute or an order identifying assets for seizure.
Official Court of Appeal judgment
