Chapter IV: Appeal procedures

An award rendered in France in international arbitration may only be the subject of an action for annulment.

An action for annulment shall be brought before the Court of Appeal within whose jurisdiction the award was made. This appeal is admissible as soon as the award is made. It shall cease to be admissible if it has not been lodged within one month of notification of the award. The notification shall be made by service unless the parties agree otherwise.

An action for annulment is only available if:

The First President or, as soon as the matter is referred to him, the Conseiller de la mise en état may grant exequatur to the award.

By special agreement, the parties may at any time expressly waive the action for annulment. In that case, they may still appeal against the exequatur order on one of the grounds provided for in Article 1520. An appeal shall be lodged within one month of the notification of the enforceable award. The notification shall be made by service unless the parties agree otherwise.

A decision refusing recognition or enforcement of an international arbitration award made in France may be appealed. The appeal is lodged within one month of service of the decision. In this case, the Court of Appeal shall, at the request of a party, hear the action for annulment against the award unless the party has waived it or the time limit for exercising it has expired.

There shall be no appeal against the order granting the exequatur except in the case provided for in the second paragraph of Article 1522. However, an action to set aside the award automatically entails, within the limits of the court’s jurisdiction, an appeal against the order of the judge who ruled on the exequatur or the removal of that judge from jurisdiction.