Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-28
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Alice-Mary Higgins (IND), National University of Ireland

Amendments Nos. 18 and 19 simply refer to the language in the Bill. Regarding the current language used in the legislation, concerning awards not having been enforceable and never shall be enforceable, it is very hard to see how this applies in relation to the energy charter treaty and so forth. Leaving that aside, these amendments simply try to ensure that a burden of proof is placed on the applicant. Rather than the State having to challenge the enforcement of an award by claiming it would "compromise the constitutional order of the State" or "the autonomy of the legal order of the European Union", there would be an onus on the applicant, that is, the company seeking to have an award enforced, to demonstrate that the enforcement of the award would not compromise the constitutional order of the State or the autonomy of the legal order of the European Union. It just shifts the burden of proof onto the people seeking the enforcement of an award. It would be for them to demonstrate that it does not compromise these aspects. These are straightforward amendments.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:01+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-28