Abstract

Arbitration is an alternative way to resolve dispute outside court.  But unlike a court judgment, arbitration does not have any legal coercive power to enforce the award. The enforcement of an award is subject to the recognition and enforcement by the court. The unsuccessful party in arbitration considers the process of recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards as the opportunity to obtain technical justice against the awardee which may deny the awardee from enjoying the fruit of his award. This paper adopts doctrinal research methodology through the use of primary and secondary documents as contained in published and unpublished materials. This paper reveals that process of seeking the intervention of the court for the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards may lead to setting the award aside, refusing the recognition of the award and remission of the award for the reconsideration of the arbitrator. The paper concluded that for recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards not to be an open gate to litigation, there is need to amend the Arbitration and Conciliation Act so that award once made will be recognised and the courts should discourage legal technicalities when the parties seek the intervention of the courts