Olin Holdings Ltd v State of Libya - United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Case No 22-825-cv - 12 July 2023
Country
Year
2023
Summary
Respondent-Appellant the State of Libya ("Libya") appeals from the judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Koeltl, J.) granting Petitioner-Appellee Olin Holdings Limited's ("Olin") petition to confirm an arbitration award issued under a bilateral investment treaty between Libya and the Republic of Cyprus and denying Libya's cross-motion to dismiss the petition on forum non conveniens grounds. On appeal, Libya's primary argument is that the district court erred by declining to independently review the arbitrability of Olin's claims before confirming the final award. We disagree and hold that Libya was not entitled to de novo review of the arbitral tribunal's decisions because it "clear[ly] and unmistakab[ly]" agreed to submit questions of arbitrability to the arbitrators in the first instance. See First Options of Chi., Inc. v. Kaplan, 514 U.S. 938, 944 (1995) (alterations and internal quotation marks omitted).
We further conclude that the district court properly confirmed the final award and rejected Libya's cross-motion to dismiss the petition.
We therefore AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.