法律英语研习 | 《纽约公约》可以延伸到台湾吗？

《纽约公约》可以延伸到台湾吗？

Can the New York Convention be Extended to Taiwan?

Overview

As is well known, the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, done in 1958 (the New York Convention) is presently the most important convention in the world about recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. 

According to data from the UNCITRAL, there are 159 Contracting States of the New York Convention by the end of May 2019. This proves the important influence of the New York Convention in the field of international commercial arbitration.

However，unfortunately, the New York Convention does not apply to Taiwan so far. The matter of Taiwan arbitral awards to be enforced overseas and foreign arbitration awards to be enforced in Taiwan is addressed under the local Arbitration Law and bilateral treaty or cooperation agreements between Taiwan and the respective foreign countries. 

Why is this situation?

众所周知，1958年《联合国承认和执行外国仲裁裁决的国际公约》（下称《纽约公约》）是目前国际上关于承认和执行外国仲裁裁决的最主要的公约。

据联合国国际贸易法委员会的数据信息，截止至2019年5月，《纽约公约》当事国数量达到159个。 这反映了《纽约公约》对国际商事仲裁的重要影响力。

然而不幸的是，长期以来，《纽约公约》并不适用于我国台湾地区。台湾地区的仲裁裁决在域外，以及外国仲裁裁决在我国台湾地区的承认和执行长期依赖于台湾地区单边的“仲裁法”以及台湾地区对外签订的双边条约、协定等合作文件。 

为什么会是这样呢？

No.1

There are many explanations, but history is now behind us. This article takes a pragmatic approach from currently effective Convention to read and understand the scope of the applicability of the New York Convention and consider possible practical solutions to the above question.

原因很多，但历史已经过去。本文从当下有效公约的角度，解读《纽约公约》的适用范围，思考两种务实方式解决上述问题。

The Legal English Study Workshop at Linli Law on May 31, 2019 walked through many legal documents surrounding Taiwan, with an exploration focus on the question. The documents the study group went through briefly during the workshop include the following:

The Cairo Declaration of 1943;

The Potsdam Proclamation of 1945;

The San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951;

The Mutual Defense Treaty between Taiwan and the US in 1954;

The United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of 1958 (the New York Convention);

The UN Resolution No. 2758 of 1971 to restore the PRC’s position in the United Nations;

The Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relation between the People’s Republic of China and the US of 1978;

The Taiwan Relations Act of the US of 1979;

带着探索的目光，2019年5月31日晚，霖理法律英语研习小组对涉及台湾地区的各项法律文件展开研读 。本次研读所涉及的法律文件主要包括：

1943年《开罗宣言》;

1945年《波茨坦公告》;

1951年的《旧金山和约》;

1954年签订的美台《共同防御条约》;

1958年《联合国承认和执行外国仲裁裁决公约》(《纽约公约》);

联合国1971年第2758号决议恢复中华人民共和国在联合国的合法地位;

1978年《中华人民共和国同美国建立外交关系联合公报》;

1979年美国《台湾关系法》。

The workshop also examined the bilateral treaties between the PRC and other countries on matters with regard to Taiwan, Taiwan’s status under international law and how the concept of “territory” is dealt with under the bilateral treaties between Taiwan and other parties.

The workshop then studied the rules of interpretation of international treaties, including the rule that a treaty shall apply to the entire territory of a contracting state unless the contracting state expressly or implied made a reservation, under Article 29 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) of 1969. 

Rules on interpretation of statutes were also studied, including the US common law rules such as extraterritorial application of law disfavored; presumption of constitutionality; non-interference of existing rights, etc. 

此外，研习小组还深入探讨了中华人民共和国与其他主权国家订立的双边条约中对台湾问题的论述、台湾地区在国际法中的地位以及在台湾地区对外签订的双边文件中如何处理“领土”概念等问题。

同时，研习小组还学习了国际条约的解释规则，包括1969年《维也纳条约法公约》第29条项下关于条约的适用范围原则上涵盖条约当事方的全境这一规定。

而关于法律条文的解释规则，研习小组进一步探讨了美国普通法系项下的法律解释规则，例如法律域外适用的不支持性、合宪性推定以及不干涉现有权利等原则。

In the workshop, several members proposed the logic syllogism that New York Convention extends to apply to Taiwan. The syllogism is this:

SYLLOGISM

a) As a contracting state, the arbitral awards made in the territory of China shall be recognized and enforced by the courts of other contracting states, once the legal conditions are met.

b) Legally, Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory.

c) Therefore, the arbitral awards made in Taiwan, i.e., arbitral awards made in China, shall also be recognized and enforced by other contracting states of the New York Convention.

d) Furthermore, the New York Convention could be extended to Taiwan.

研习过程中，几名小组成员提出了关于《纽约公约》向我国台湾地区延伸适用的逻辑推论。逻辑推论如下：

逻辑推论

(一) 作为缔约国，在中国领土内作出的仲裁裁决，一旦符合《纽约公约》中的给定条件，应由其他缔约国的法院予以承认和执行。

(二) 而从法律上讲，台湾地区是中国领土不可分割的一部分。

(三) 因此，在台湾作出的仲裁裁决，即为在中国作出的裁决，应得到《纽约公约》其他缔约国的承认和执行。

(四) 进一步说，《纽约公约》可以向台湾地区延伸适用。

No.2

Solution One:

As China made no territorial reservation at the time of acceding to the New York Convention in 1987, the Convention automatically applies to Taiwan, because Taiwan is part of the sacred territory of the PRC. 

This is a reading from Paragraph 1, Article X of the New York Convention, which reads that a Contracting State may declare at the time of accession that the Convention applies to all of its territories. 

The word “may” illustrates that China may do the declaration, or it may leave it as is, i.e., the Convention applies to all territory without China making a declaration. 

If this reading is correct, according to this view, the Supreme People’s Court could provide a judicial interpretation specifically on the application of the New York Convention to Taiwan, allowing arbitral awards made in Taiwan be recognized and enforced in the Contracting States of the PRC, and vice versa, arbitral awards made in PRC’s 158 Contracting States be recognized and enforced in Taiwan or the Mainland where assets related to the Taiwan entity can be found in the Mainland in accordance with the New York Convention.

解决方法一：

由于中国在1987年加入《纽约公约》时没有作出关于领土适用的保留，而台湾地区是中华人民共和国神圣领土的一部分，因此《纽约公约》自动适用于台湾地区。

依据《纽约公约》第10条第1款，缔约国可以在加入时声明《纽约公约》适用于其所有领土。

“可以”一词说明，中国可以作声明，也可以不作声明，即不采取任何行动。换言之，《纽约公约》的适用范围涵盖所有中国未作特定声明的领土。

如果这一解读是正确的，那么据此，中华人民共和国最高人民法院可以就《纽约公约》对台湾地区的适用作出专门的司法解释，允许在台湾地区作出的仲裁裁决在中国以外的其他《纽约公约》缔约国得到承认和执行，反之亦然。同时，在中华人民共和国以外的其他缔约国所作出的仲裁裁决，可以直接依据《纽约公约》，在台湾地区法院，或者（在大陆地区存在可执行财产时）在大陆地区法院得到承认和执行。

Solution Two:

The second solution involves two possible routes. 

Route A:

Route A is simply for the PRC (through the Foreign Affairs Ministry, as it is a matter of foreign affairs) to file a notification with the Secretary General of the United Nations to the effect that the New York Convention applies to Taiwan. 

According to Paragraph 2, Article X of the New York Convention, such notification will become effective from the ninetieth day after the day of receipt by the Secretary General of the United Nations of this notification. 

According to this view, Route A is available as PRC Constitution does not require any separate procedure for the Central Government to obtain consent from Taiwan in order for it to act in respect of the notification of extension of the New York Convention to Taiwan.

Route B:

Route B under the Second Solution appears to be that PRC Central Government could, in good faith, through the current channel of communication between Mainland and Taiwan, invite the current administrative authority in Taiwan to confirm the Central Government’s intention of notification of extension of the New York Convention to Taiwan, say, within 6 months, first, so as to comply with the treaty obligation to consider the possibility of taking the necessary steps (under Paragraph 3, Article X of the New York Convention) to obtain local consent from Taiwan before officially filing the notification with the Secretary General of the United Nations. 

解决方法二：解决方法二包含两种可能的路径。

路径A：

路径A是中华人民共和国(通过外交部，因为这是一个外交事务)向联合国秘书长递交照会（即“通知”），声明《纽约公约》适用于台湾。

根据《纽约公约》第10条第2款，这种通知自联合国秘书长收到此项通知之日后第九十日起生效。

根据《中华人民共和国宪法》及其他宪法性法律，中央政府决定《纽约公约》延伸适用至台湾地区并作出照会，无需启动任何单独的程序以获取台湾地区的同意。由此可见，路径A是可行的。

路径B：

路径B是，中华人民共和国中央政府，可以善意地、友好地通过当前海峡两岸的沟通渠道，邀请台湾地区行政当局确认中央政府关于《纽约公约》延伸适用至台湾地区的通知（并要求台湾地区行政当局在特定时间内答复，比如六个月内）。

这一路径的依据是《纽约公约》第十条第三款项下的关于“考虑采取必要步骤的可能性”的条约义务。

该条款要求中央政府在正式向联合国秘书长提交关于将《纽约公约》延伸适用至台湾地区的照会前，须考虑采取必要步骤的可能性，获得台湾地区行政当局的同意。

Brief Summary:

Regardless whether Paragraph 3, Article X applies to the proposal of extension of the New York Convention to Taiwan (because China is not a federal state, Paragraph 3 may not apply), the notification to the United Nations on the extension of the New York Convention does seem to be of help, as a win-win strategy, to the business and entities across the Taiwan Strait, so that arbitral awards made in Taiwan can be recognized and enforced under the New York Convention through the vast network of recognition and enforcement among the 159 contracting states of which China is a Contracting State under the New York Convention.

小结：

不管《纽约公约》第10条第3款规定是否适用于《纽约公约》延伸适用至台湾的提案（有观点主张因为中国不是一个联邦制国家，第3款可能并不适用），中央政府向联合国秘书长发出关于《纽约公约》延伸适用的照会，似乎对海峡两岸的经贸和其他实体是有帮助的，这是一个双赢的策略。

这使得在台湾作出的仲裁裁决，能有效利用中国作为缔约国的《纽约公约》所构筑的广泛的承认和执行平台，得到承认和执行。