(...) fundamental rights when denying their application to withdraw an annulment action
The Spanish Constitutional Court has held that the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid violated the fundamental rights of the parties when it denied their application to withdraw an annulment action.
The parties had agreed to withdraw their application for annulment of an award, which the Madrid court denied. The court then continued the proceedings until declaring that the arbitral award was null and void for lack of impartiality, a ground that had not been raised by the parties. In particular, the Madrid court held that the annulment action was not a procedure that was within the parties' power to dispose of and that there is a general interest in resolving any matter that affects the public policy of Spain.
On extraordinary appeal, the Constitutional Court concluded that the Madrid Court had violated the parties' rights under article 24 of the Spanish constitution. (Extraordinary appeal - Recurso de amparo 3130-2017 – Mr. Alberto and Ms. Nuria against the judgment of 4 May 2017 of the Madrid Superior Court of Justice) 15 June 2020.
Practical Law UK, 08-Jul-2020.