The Public Policy Exception as an Unruly Horse
There is an ongoing quest for a uniform application of the New
York Convention. However, the interpretation of the exceptions to
enforcement still varies. Albeit applying the same provisions,
national courts continue to adopt different approaches to the
enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. This is particularly true
where the public policy exception is raised under Art. V(2)(b).
Considerable debate exists as to what the public policy is. To
the extent it is capable of definition, the public policy is found
to embrace nebulous concepts such as a state's most basic
notions of morality and justice. Due to its vague and unpredictable
application; the public policy described by an English judge as
"a very unruly horse, and when once you get astride it you
never know where it will carry you."1)
