The Conception of Public Policy and its Applicability with Respect to Enforcement of Awards of International Commercial Arbitrations in the Russian Federation

Svetlana Björkman, Associate Legal Counsel, Wärtsilä Finland oy, Finland

One of the most important steps of arbitration is often the process of arbitral award's recognition and enforcement, this process as such sometimes may turn out to be not less complicated than arbitration itself. In jurisdictions of various states there exist different components of the mechanism for the recognition and enforcement of awards of international commercial arbitrations (hereinafter referred to as “foreign arbitral awards”). And in the Russian legal practice certain outlines for the systematization of law enforcement practice with respect to this issue can be traced, however, to the present day the most controversial and ambiguous point of this process is application of the category of public policy by Russian courts as the ground to refuse to recognize and enforce foreign arbitral awards.

Svetlana Björkman, was born and grew up in Uzbekistan (the former USSR republic) in 1977, graduated from Saint-Petersburg State University with a degree in international law. For 8 years worked as a legal consultant and later on as a project coordinator under programmes being implemented by United Nations. During 2 years worked with Committee for Investments and Strategic projects of Government of Saint-Petersburg, Russia. Currently worked as a legal counsel, Power Plants Wärtsilä Finland oy.

Wärtsilä is a global leader in complete lifecycle power solutions for the marine and energy markets. Wärtsilä is a leading supplier of modern, environmentally advanced, highly efficient, and dynamic power plants that allow the maximum integration of intermittent renewable power generation.