LEX MERCATORIA ARBITRATION AND THE NEW YORK CONVENTION: THE NIGERIAN POSITION ON ENFORCEABILITY OF LEX MERCATORIA AWARD

Abstract

The term lexmercatoria comes from Latin and means “merchant law”. It refers to a set of trading principles, commercial law rules and procedures that were developed by merchants in medieval Europe. It conjures up romantic notions of ancient laws and practices adopted by merchants in medieval times as they traded from place to place. In the present time, it has resurrected and has gathered almost general appeal as a type of international commercial law which may displace national laws in international transaction. There are criticisms for and against its general application as a set of laws applicable to commercial disputes as it is stateless. The fundamental question to answer is how valid and lawful are the merchant rules in the settlement of trade disputes in Nigeria? Are arbitral awards rendered in accordance with the lexmercatoria rules enforceable in Nigeria pursuant to the provisions of the Arbitration and Mediation Act of Nigeria? Are the arbitral awards based on lexmercatoria rules enforceable by the provisions of New York Convention? Arbitral awards based on lexmercatoria awards though stateless awards are not lawless awards