Originally From: Arbitration Law of Switzerland: Practice & Procedure

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— Chapter 3 —
RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT
OF AWARDS

3.1 AWARDS RENDERED IN SWITZERLAND

Swiss law does not require a particular procedure to make the award
enforceable. Once the arbitral award is notified to the parties, it is final
and can be enforced.1 As a principle, this is regardless of whether the
losing party challenges the award before the Federal Supreme Court.
Setting aside proceedings under Articles 190-191 PILA do not stay
enforcement, unless the Federal Supreme Court judge in charge of the
proceedings explicitly grants the suspension.
3.1.1 Certificate of Enforceability
Swiss law provides for the ability to obtain a certificate of
enforceability in order to further facilitate the enforcement of the award.
Article 193(2) PILA allows the parties to obtain this certificate from the
court at the seat of the arbitration. While this certificate is not legally
required for enforcing the award in Switzerland, it will facilitate proof of
the formal legal status of the award in enforcement proceedings. The
Swiss court of enforcement is bound by the certificate of enforceability,2
which is particularly helpful if the court does not have practical
experience with arbitral awards.
The court at the seat of arbitration will issue the certificate of
enforceability if the following requirements are fulfilled:
• the decision is an award (and not, e.g., an expert determination);3
• the award does not have obvious formal errors such as the lack
of a signature;
the award is not null and void, nullity of the award being
possible only in exceptional cases where the proceedings had
unacceptable shortcomings (e.g., if an “arbitral award” is
rendered without an arbitration agreement and without any
proceedings4); and
• the award is enforceable, in particular: (i) no motion to set aside
the award has been filed within 30 days, or (ii) a motion has been
filed but has no suspensive effect, or (iii) the Federal Supreme
Court has dismissed the motion to set aside the award, or (iv) the
parties have validly waived their right to a challenge under
Article 192 PILA.