Article 185 of Code of Civil Procedure

An arbitrator’s award shall not be enforceable except by an order issued by the president of the court with whose Registry the award was deposited, upon the application of an interested party, after examining the award and the arbitration agreement and ascertaining the absence of impediments to its enforcement and the expiry of the time limit for appeal if the award is appealable and is not subject to expedited enforcement. The enforcement order shall be placed at the foot of the original award. Article 186 (1) An arbitrator’s award may not be appealed unless the litigants agree otherwise before its issuance. The appeal shall then be brought before the Court of First Instance sitting in an appellate capacity and shall be subject to the rules prescribed for appeals against judgments issued by courts. Its time limit shall begin upon deposit of the original award with the Registry pursuant to Article (184). Nevertheless, the award shall not be appealable if the arbitrator is authorized to settle by compromise, or is an arbitrator on appeal, or the value of the action does not exceed one thousand dinars, or the award is issued by the panel stipulated in Article (177). Any interested party may seek the annulment of an arbitrator’s award issued as final in the following circumstances, even if otherwise agreed before its issuance: (a) If it was issued without an arbitration agreement or pursuant to an arbitration agreement that is void or has lapsed through expiry of the time limit, or if the award exceeded the limits of the arbitration agreement. (b) If any of the grounds permitting a petition for reconsideration is established. (c) If there is a nullity in the award or a nullity in the proceedings that affected the award. Article 187 (2) An action for annulment shall be brought before the court originally competent to hear the dispute, in accordance with the ordinary procedures for bringing an action, within thirty days of service of the award. This time limit shall begin in accordance with Article (149) in cases where any of the grounds permitting a petition for reconsideration is established. The statement of claim must include the grounds for annulment; otherwise, it shall be void. The claimant must deposit one hundred dinars as security upon submitting the statement of claim. The Registry shall not accept the statement of claim unless accompanied by proof of deposit of the security. A single security deposit shall suffice where there are multiple claimants if they bring their action in a single statement of claim, even if the grounds for annulment differ. The Government shall be exempt from depositing this security, as shall be exempt from (1) Amended pursuant to Decree-Law No. 3 of 1988 (2) The third paragraph amended pursuant to Decree-Law No. 133 of 2025 Index of the Law 643 Home Page Law of Procedure Decree-Law No. 38 of 1980 promulgating the Civil and Commercial Procedure Law depositing it those who are exempt from judicial fees. The security shall be forfeited by operation of law whenever a judgment is rendered declaring the action inadmissible, impermissible to bring, lapsed, void or dismissed. If the court rules that the arbitrators’ award is void, it shall address the merits of the dispute and adjudicate them.