Pyramids and Pilgrimages : An Arbitration Agreement with a State-Created Entity is Not an Arbitration Agreement with a State

In Dallah Real Estate and Tourism Holding Co v Ministry of Religious Affairs, Government of Pakistan, the English Commercial Court declined to enforce the award of an ICC tribunal in favour of Dallah and against the Government of Pakistan. In a decision upheld by the Court of Appeal, Aikens J held that the Government was not a party to the contract nor the agreement to resolve disputes via arbitration. The Government had established a separate entity (since defunct), which carried on negotiations with Dallah and entered into the contract and agreement. It was that entity, not the Government, which was the responsible party. This article canvasses the factors that may be derived from Dallah and its near kin, the Pyramids Case, which indicate just how difficult it is to implicate a parent state in the actions of a surrogate authority sufficient to satisfy a court that the state is bound by an arbitration agreement with that authority