Civil Court has Jurisdiction to Enforce Arbitral Award

The Maldives High Court, on 20 April 2017, quashed the Civil Court’s decision that the Civil Court can only proceed with enforcement of the arbitral award after the High Court makes a decision regarding the award.

The initial case, which was filed by Hilton International against Sun Travel and Tours, in the International Court of Arbitration concluded with the Arbitral Award being made in favor of Hilton. A case was then filed by Hilton with the Civil Court of Maldives to enforce the Arbitral Award upon which the Civil Court, citing Section 73(a) and 89(b) of Law Number 10/2013 (Arbitration Act), stated that the Court can only proceed once the High Court makes a decision regarding the Arbitral Award.

On appeal, the High Court decided the case in favor of Hilton citing that, a collective reading of Section 73(a) of the Arbitration Act and the High Court Arbitration Regulation and the established procedures of enforcing court orders and decisions indicate that “court” referred to in Section 73(a) is the Civil Court.