Dispute resolution in Guyana: the Arbitration Act 2024, foreign awards and the Commercial Court

The Arbitration Act 2024

The current principal statute is the Arbitration Act 2024 (Act No. 6 of 2024). It was passed by the National Assembly on 17 May 2024 and published in the Official Gazette on 24 May 2024. It is not an “Arbitration Act 2023”. The Arbitration Act 2024 (Commencement) Order 2024 (Order No. 47 of 2024) was made on 5 July 2024 by the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs and published in the Official Gazette (Extraordinary) of 6 July 2024. Clause 2 of that Order appoints “the 5th day of July, 2024” as the day on which the Act shall come into operation. The Act repeals the former Arbitration Act (Cap. 7:03) and contains transitional provisions, which should be read where a clause or a pending reference was made under the former Act.

The long title states that the Act is to facilitate domestic and international arbitrations by encouraging the use of arbitration as a method of resolving disputes. Its structure follows a modern, UNCITRAL-influenced model. It makes provision for the arbitration agreement (including the relationship between an arbitration agreement and a substantive claim before the court, and interim measures by the court); the composition of the arbitral tribunal and challenges to arbitrators; the competence of the tribunal to rule on its own jurisdiction; mediation, including a power for an arbitrator to act as mediator; interim measures and preliminary orders, including their recognition and enforcement; the conduct of proceedings, including equal treatment of the parties, the place of arbitration, and confidentiality; the making of the award; exclusive recourse against an award by an application to set it aside; and, in Part X, the recognition and enforcement of awards, and the grounds for refusing recognition or enforcement. A Schedule sets out the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. The Act also provides for a regulatory body to oversee arbitrations and for arbitration centres. The detailed conditions are those of the Act, which should be read for any particular clause or enforcement application.

Parties who have already provided for arbitration under the former Act, or under institutional rules, should review the clause against the 2024 statute, including the transitional provisions in section 73. A clause that still refers only to Cap. 7:03 may not reflect the current law.

Foreign awards and foreign judgments

Guyana is a party to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the New York Convention). According to the UNCITRAL status table, Guyana acceded on 25 September 2014, and the Convention entered into force for Guyana on 24 December 2014. As checked for this note, the Guyana row of that table does not record a reservation. Enforcement of a Convention award is a matter of applying the Convention and Part X of the Arbitration Act 2024, which is now in operation.

Separately, the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 2023 (Act No. 9 of 2023) was passed on 20 July 2023 and published in the Official Gazette on 2 August 2023. Section 1 is a short title only. Unlike the Data Protection Act 2023 or the Petroleum Activities Act 2023, the Act does not postpone commencement to a day appointed by ministerial order. Section 15 of the Interpretation and General Clauses Act (Cap. 2:01, L.R.O. 1/2022) provides that every Act shall be published in the Gazette and shall come into operation on the date of publication unless it is provided in that Act or some other written law that it shall come into operation on some other date. On that basis, the 2023 Act came into operation on 2 August 2023. It repeals the earlier Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act and applies to countries listed in its Schedule, with power for the Minister to extend it by order. A foreign judgment, and a pending application under the repealed Act, should be considered against the 2023 statute and its transitional provisions.

The Commercial Court and appeals

Commercial cases may be brought in the Commercial Court, which is a division of the High Court. Supreme Court of Judicature annual reports record that the Commercial Court commenced on 21 June 2006. It is not a separate court created by a later statute; it is a specialised division of the High Court. Procedure, assignment of matters and any practice directions should be confirmed from current Supreme Court materials.

Appeals lie through the Guyanese appellate courts. The Caribbean Court of Justice is Guyana’s final appellate court in its appellate jurisdiction, under the Caribbean Court of Justice Act (Cap. 3:07). The same Court has a distinct original jurisdiction over the interpretation and application of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, described in the firm’s [note on that Treaty](/insights/the-revised-treaty-of-chaguaramas-and-the-caribbean-community). A dispute-resolution clause in a commercial contract should be drafted with this court structure, and with the Arbitration Act 2024 and the New York Convention, in view, rather than by transplanting a clause written for another jurisdiction.

The choice between court proceedings, arbitration or another mechanism should take account of the parties, the location of assets, the subject matter, urgency, confidentiality and the likely enforcement path. A clause that provides only for a foreign court, or for arbitration in a seat whose awards may be difficult to enforce against assets in Guyana, can prove awkward if enforcement here is in fact required. Conversely, a clause that ignores the New York Convention, or that still refers to the repealed Arbitration Act, may not reflect the current statute. Conditions precedent, governing law, service of process and interim relief should be considered at the same time as the forum clause.