07 · THE ARBITRAL AWARD
The arbitral award
From the arbitrators’ decision to compliance: eight questions on awards, challenges and enforcement.
What is an arbitral award and what must it contain?
An arbitral award is the arbitrators’ decision on matters submitted to them. It must make clear what has been decided and comply with applicable legal requirements.
An award on a debt may establish the creditor’s entitlement, determine the amount payable and allocate costs. Not every arbitral decision is an award: an order scheduling a hearing serves a different procedural purpose.
Reasons explain how the tribunal reached its decision. Whether they may be dispensed with depends on the law and the parties’ agreement; it should not be assumed.
Hypothetical example
The tribunal finds that the buyer owes part of the price but dismisses the damages claim. The award should clearly dispose of each claim so the payment obligation is unambiguous.
In Mozambique: Article 39 requires a written award and specifies its contents, including the parties, agreement, subject of the dispute, arbitrators, place, date and signatures. Reasons are required unless waived by agreement or the award records a settlement; costs must also be addressed.
Sources for this answer
- Law 11/99 of 8 July — Arbitration, Conciliation and Mediation (Portuguese) · Articles 38–43, particularly Article 39
- UNCITRAL — 1985 Model Law, with 2006 amendments · Article 31
Can there be partial awards or awards on agreed terms?
Yes. An award may resolve only part of the dispute; it may also record a settlement where the applicable framework allows.
A partial award finally decides an issue or claim while leaving others for later. It differs from an interim order. Its availability and effects on challenge deadlines depend on the law and rules.
If the parties settle during proceedings, they may ask the arbitrators to record the settlement in an award. The arbitrators do not thereby adjudicate its merits as if the dispute had proceeded to a full contested decision.
Hypothetical example
The parties agree that a debt will be paid in three instalments and ask for an award recording the settlement. In another arbitration, the tribunal first determines liability and leaves damages for a later phase.
In Mozambique: Article 38 provides for an award on agreed terms at the parties’ request and without tribunal objection. For partial awards, check the particular procedural framework; the UNCITRAL Rules, where applicable, permit separate awards on different issues.
Sources for this answer
- Law 11/99 of 8 July — Arbitration, Conciliation and Mediation (Portuguese) · Articles 38 and 39
- UNCITRAL — Arbitration Rules · Articles 34(1) and 36
How are errors corrected or an award clarified?
Clerical errors can be corrected; unclear passages and omitted claims have their own remedies. None provides an unrestricted opportunity to reopen the dispute.
Correction may address an arithmetic or writing error. Interpretation clarifies a passage under the permitted conditions. An additional award may determine a claim submitted but omitted from the decision.
Identify the precise error, passage or omitted claim. Disagreement with the assessment of evidence does not turn that disagreement into a clerical error.
Hypothetical example
The award establishes two amounts: 60,000 and 40,000 meticais. By mistake, it records a total of 90,000. Correcting the sum differs from asking for a new assessment of the evidence to change either amount.
In Mozambique: Article 48 generally provides for requests within 30 days of receipt, with notice to the other party. Interpretation requires the parties’ agreement. A justified correction or interpretation is decided within 30 days; an additional award within 60 days, subject to tribunal extensions. These requests do not have suspensive effect.
Sources for this answer
- Law 11/99 of 8 July — Arbitration, Conciliation and Mediation (Portuguese) · Article 48; relationship with Article 45
- UNCITRAL — 1985 Model Law, with 2006 amendments · Article 33
Can an arbitral award be appealed?
Mozambican law provides for an annulment challenge on specified grounds. It is not an ordinary appeal allowing the whole case to be argued again.
Annulment may rest, for example, on an invalid agreement, lack of an opportunity to present a case, a decision beyond the arbitrators’ authority or a public-policy violation. Public policy protects fundamental legal principles; it does not cover every disagreement with the outcome.
Article 45 requires filing with the arbitral tribunal before referral to the court. It also provides for rejection by the arbitrators where the application is late or fails to comply with statutory grounds. In the article cited below, Dimétrio Manjate critically examines that rejection power and Mozambique’s award-challenge framework.
Hypothetical example
A party that was not properly notified may invoke a statutory annulment ground. A party that merely finds the assessment of a witness unconvincing does not thereby obtain a full rehearing on the merits.
In Mozambique: Articles 44–47 govern annulment. Article 45 sets a 30-day period from notification of the award or the correction, interpretation or additional-award decision. Article 44 gives the challenge suspensive effect; Article 47 makes the right to seek annulment non-waivable.
Sources for this answer
- Law 11/99 of 8 July — Arbitration, Conciliation and Mediation (Portuguese) · Articles 44–47, including Article 45(3)
- Dimétrio Manjate — Challenging arbitral awards (2023) · Article published in 2023, pp. 225–243
How do setting aside, recognition and enforcement differ?
Annulment seeks to set aside an award for legally specified defects; recognition gives it legal effect; enforcement seeks compulsory performance of the obligation.
These are different steps. An award may be relied on to establish that a matter has already been decided without seizing assets. If the debtor does not pay, enforcement may be necessary.
Annulment is normally sought before the competent jurisdiction at the seat. When an award is used in another country, that country’s courts consider recognition or enforcement under the applicable framework. Refusal of recognition in one country does not amount to setting aside the award for all purposes.
Hypothetical example
The arbitration is seated in Maputo, but the debtor holds assets in another State. Annulment in Mozambique and enforcement in that State pursue different objectives and have different requirements.
In Mozambique: Law 11/99 addresses the award’s effects in Article 43, annulment in Articles 44–47 and enforcement in Articles 49–51. For foreign awards, consider the New York Convention and Article 67, which preserves applicable international treaties.
Sources for this answer
- Law 11/99 of 8 July — Arbitration, Conciliation and Mediation (Portuguese) · Articles 43–51 and 67
- 1958 New York Convention · Articles III, V and VI
How is an arbitral award enforced in Mozambique?
Where there is no voluntary compliance, the successful party may seek judicial enforcement with the documents and conditions required by law.
Before seeking enforcement, check the obligation, the compliance period and notification and deposit requirements. An award does not authorise the creditor to seize assets on its own initiative.
The debtor may oppose enforcement on permitted grounds. That does not turn enforcement into a repetition of the arbitration; its purpose is to give effect to the established obligation.
Hypothetical example
The award orders payment within 20 days. Once that period expires without payment, the creditor assembles the award, agreement and required proof to seek judicial enforcement.
In Mozambique: Articles 49–51 govern enforcement. Article 50 requires authenticated copies of the agreement and award, including corrections, and proof of notification and deposit; an official Portuguese translation is required where necessary. Article 43 makes a condemnatory award deposited under Article 42 an enforceable title, allowing it to support judicial enforcement. Under Article 51, the eight-day opposition period runs from notification of the decision ordering enforcement.
Sources for this answer
- Law 11/99 of 8 July — Arbitration, Conciliation and Mediation (Portuguese) · Articles 42, 43 and 49–51
How is a foreign award recognised and enforced?
The New York Convention facilitates recognition and enforcement of foreign awards, but does not dispense with an application to the competent authority or documentary requirements.
The applicant supplies the Article IV documents, including the award and arbitration agreement, with the required authentication and translation. The procedure follows the law of the country where recognition or enforcement is sought.
Refusal must rest on grounds permitted by the applicable framework. The Convention generally does not allow reconsideration of the merits as on appeal. A pending annulment application at the seat may have consequences, but differs from an award already set aside.
Hypothetical example
An award made in Portugal orders payment by a company with assets in Mozambique. The creditor must check Mozambican procedure, prepare the documents and establish that the award falls within the Convention.
In Mozambique: Mozambique has been a Convention party since 9 September 1998, with a reciprocity reservation: it applies the Convention to awards made in other contracting States. Check that reservation before selecting the application’s legal basis. Article 67 of Law 11/99 preserves international conventions.
Sources for this answer
- 1958 New York Convention · Articles I and III–VII
- UNCITRAL — New York Convention status and reservations · Mozambique: entry into force and reciprocity reservation
- Law 11/99 of 8 July — Arbitration, Conciliation and Mediation (Portuguese) · Article 67
What special features apply to awards under the ICSID Convention?
Awards under the ICSID Convention follow their own review and recognition system, distinct from the usual commercial-arbitration framework.
Article 53 makes the award binding on the parties and excludes appeals or other remedies outside the Convention. Internal remedies include rectification, supplementation, interpretation, revision and annulment, each with its own conditions.
Article 54 requires contracting States to recognise the award and enforce its pecuniary obligations as those of a final court judgment. Actual execution follows local law. Article 55 preserves execution immunity rules: recognition does not make every State asset available for seizure.
Hypothetical example
An investor obtains an ICSID award ordering monetary payment. It supplies the required certified copy, but execution against public assets still requires consideration of applicable immunity rules.
In Mozambique: Mozambique has been a contracting State since 7 July 1995. For a Convention award, distinguish Articles 49–52 remedies from annulment under Law 11/99. Recognition is sought from the competent court or authority with a copy certified by the ICSID Secretary-General.
Sources for this answer
- ICSID Convention — awards and remedies · Articles 49–55
- ICSID — Contracting State: Mozambique · Entry into force for Mozambique
Supplementary reading
FICHTNER, José Antonio; MANNHEIMER, Sergio Nelson; MONTEIRO, André Luís. Teoria geral da arbitragem. Rio de Janeiro: Forense, 2019. Chapters 1 and 2 as supplementary doctrinal references; the work focuses on Brazilian law.