Corporacion AIC SA v Hidroelectrica Santa Rita SA - United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida - Civil Action No 19-20294-Civ - Order Adopting Report and Recommendation to Deny Motion to Vacate Arbitration Awards - 4 August 2020
Country
Year
2020
Summary
In this case, Petitioner Corporacion AIC, S.A. seeks to vacate a partial award and a final award which issued from international arbitration proceedings in Miami. (Pet. and Mot., ECF No. 31-1.) The Court referred this matter to United States Magistrate Judge Chris M. McAliley for a ruling on all pre-trial, nondispositive matters and for a report and recommendation on any dispositive matters. (ECF No. 18.) Judge McAliley issued a report and recommendation, recommending that the Court deny AIC’s second amended petition and motion to vacate arbitration awards. (Rep. & Rec., ECF No. 41.) AIC timely objected to the report, arguing Judge McAliley erred in concluding the Court lacks the authority to vacate the international arbitration awards under domestic arbitration law. (Objs., ECF No. 45-1.) Respondent Hidroelectrica Santa Rita S.A. (“HSR”) responded to AIC’s objections, countering Eleventh Circuit precedent prevents AIC from relying on any ground not enumerated in the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “New York Convention”). (Resp., ECF No. 48.) The Court has reviewed—de novo— the entirety of Judge McAliley’s report, the record, and the relevant legal authorities and adopts her recommendation and report in its entirety, thus denying AIC’s amended petition and motion to vacate (ECF No. 31-1) and dismissing this case.
The underlying arbitration proceedings in this case were initiated in October 2015 by HSR. Both HSR and AIC are Guatemalan corporations. Their dispute arose out of a contract disagreement involving the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in Guatemala. Unhappy with the results of that arbitration, AIC seeks, in this Court, to have the awards issued by the tribunal vacated.
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