The Qatar International Court enforced a London-seated ICC arbitral award of USD 47 million against a Qatari state-owned entity, providing important guidance on the public policy exception under Article V(2)(b) of the New York Convention in the Gulf context.
A European construction consortium obtained an ICC award against a Qatari government-linked infrastructure company for breach of a construction contract related to a World Cup stadium project. The respondent resisted enforcement, arguing that enforcement would violate Qatari public policy because the underlying contract involved corruption allegations.
The Court held that the public policy exception must be construed narrowly and applied the international (not domestic) standard of public policy. The Court distinguished between the underlying contract dispute and the arbitral award itself, finding that only the most egregious violations of fundamental principles would justify refusing enforcement.