Supreme Court lifts stay of enforcement of ICSID award in Micula proceedings in important judgment

19/02/20

The Supreme Court today handed down a significant judgment in which it lifted a stay of enforcement of an ICSID arbitral award which had been imposed by the Courts below on the ground that there are pending proceedings before the European Courts to determine whether payment of the award would constitute unlawful state aid. The Court held, overturning the Court of Appeal, that pursuant to Article 351 TFEU, the UK’s pre-existing obligations to the contracting states of the ICSID Convention take priority over any existing EU law obligations. The Court also discharged the security order made by the courts below.  

The judgment is here.