The impediments faced by Yemen in enforcing international arbitral awards: a legal analysis

The importance of an award of international arbitral proceedings is considered to be of no value if the award is not enforceable. The enforcement of international arbitral award (IAA) depends on the national court of a nation. In Yemen, however, the enforcement of IAA by the national court is difficult because of the loopholes of the provisions of Yemeni Arbitration Act 1992 (YAA), tribalism and corruption. The objectives of this study are: firstly, to investigate the provisions of the enforcement of arbitration laws in Yemen; secondly, to study international provisions relating to the enforcement of arbitration laws; thirdly, to study the impact of tribalism on the court of appeal in the enforcement of IAA in Yemen; fourthly, to determine the impact of corruption on the court in the enforcement of IAA in Yemen; and finally, to make suggestions for the improvement of the enforcement of international arbitral awards in Yemen. This study employed two methods namely doctrinal legal research and sociolegal
research. The data were collected through face-to-face, semi-structured interview. The researcher applied purposive sampling by choosing expert persons from the Central Organization for Control and Auditing, Public Funds Prosecution, the Supreme National Authority for Combating Corruption, academicians, arbitrator, Judicial Inspection Board member and the Court of Appeal judges who conduct arbitral cases. The collected data were analysed using content analysis method. This study found that YAA is unable to cope with issues relating to the enforcement of IAA. It failed to include some legal provisions that are related to the enforcement. The study also confirmed the adverse impact of tribalism and corruption on the court in enforcing the international arbitral awards. This is because the tribes dominate the government institutions. While, the corruption impedes the judicial operations. Therefore, the suggestions to overcome the impediments are: firstly, the amendment of YAA; secondly, ratification of
New York Convention 1958; thirdly, development of strategies to civilize the tribes by the government; and finally, the independence of the judiciary must be enforced.