The face of the moon was in shadow
International arbitration becomes more attractive when parties are assured that they can easily enforce the arbitral awards in different countries. The New York Convention has made the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards easier. Unfortunately, Malawi is not yet a party to the New York Convention. Enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Malawi can be done by using three different pieces of legislation: the British and Commonwealth Judgments Act of 1922; the Service of Process and Execution of Judgments Act of 1957 and; the Arbitration Act of 1967. The paper argues that the said pieces of legislation are restrictive, in terms of countries that they apply to as well as the types of awards that can be enforced, and lacks certainty and predictability. The pitfalls found under the Malawian enforcement regime are not available under the New York Convention. The paper argues that adopting the New York Convention would make Malawi more arbitration friendly.
