The Requirement of Signed and Dated Awards: Are Arbitrators Ever Entitled Not to Sign?

Unlike court judgments that are issued and filed in the courts and are traceable there by the parties or third persons at any time, there is no central database in most states where arbitral awards are stored and kept. Only few states require that awards be confirmed by the courts of the seat' or otherwise notarized, which means that what distinguishes an award from a mere collection of typed pages is the authority of the tribunal, typically expressed by the true and authentic signatures of the arbitrators on the body of the award. The parties may of course notarize awards even if the law of the seat does not so request (to avoid repercussions in the event of loss), but the signatures of the arbitrators generally suffice to enforce both domestically and internationally. As a result, the arbitrators' signatures are not just a formality associated with awards, but it is also that which gives awards their authority.