Imperial S.p.A. v Alliance Apparel Group, Inc

Imperial S.p.A. (Imperial) sought to enforce an arbitral award against Alliance Apparel Group, Inc. (Alliance). The dispute concerned a contract for the supply of clothing, which contained an arbitration clause. Following an arbitration in Italy, an award was rendered in favour of Imperial. Imperial then commenced proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia to have this award recognised and enforced.

The primary legal issue before the Federal Court was whether the Italian arbitral award was enforceable in Australia under the *International Arbitration Act 1974* (Cth) (the Act), which gives effect to the *Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards* (the New York Convention). Specifically, the court had to consider whether any of the grounds for refusing enforcement, as set out in Article V of the New York Convention and incorporated into the Act, were made out by Alliance.

Justice Kirov considered Alliance's arguments that the award should not be enforced, including claims that Alliance was not given proper notice of the appointment of the arbitrator or the arbitration proceedings, and that the award dealt with matters beyond the scope of the submission to arbitration. His Honour analysed the evidence presented by both parties regarding the conduct of the arbitration and the communications between the parties and the arbitrators. The court applied the principles of international comity and the strong presumption in favour of enforcing foreign arbitral awards, as well as the specific provisions of the Act and the New York Convention concerning the grounds for refusal of enforcement.

The Federal Court ultimately found that Alliance had failed to establish any of the grounds for refusing enforcement under the Act. Accordingly, the court ordered that the Italian arbitral award be recognised and enforced in Australia.