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Crescent v. National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) (I), PCA Case No. 2009-20

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Short Name:

Crescent v. NIOC (I)

Case Type:
Contract (Investor–State)
Seat of Arbitration:
Applicable Treaty:
Applicable Legal Instruments:
Economic Sector:
Mining and Quarrying, Including Hydrocarbons (oil and Gas)

Available documents

27 Sep 2021
Partial Award on Merits
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Partial Award on Merits
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Claimant appointee
Claimant appointee:
Jeremy Cooke
Respondent appointee
Respondent appointee:
Nicholas Phillips
Tribunal/Panel chair
Arbitrator(s)
Murray Gleeson
Sole Arbitrator
ICSID Annulment Committee president
ICSID Annulment Committee members
WTO Appellate Body members
WTO Appellate Body chair
Judges
Claimant's counsel
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Other counsel
Claimant's expert
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Tribunal secretary
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Document Summary
Partial Award on Merits
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9 Aug 2022
Order of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Granting Petitioners’ Motion for Alternative Service
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Order of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Granting Petitioners’ Motion for Alternative Service
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Respondent appointee
Tribunal/Panel chair
Arbitrator(s)
Sole Arbitrator
ICSID Annulment Committee president
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WTO Appellate Body members
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Jia M. Cobb
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Order of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Granting Petitioners’ Motion for Alternative Service
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21 Oct 2022
Judgment of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales [2022] EWHC 2641
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Judgment of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales [2022] EWHC 2641
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ICSID Annulment Committee president
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Butcher
Claimant's counsel
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Country in which this occurs:
United Kingdom
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Judgment of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales [2022] EWHC 2641
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21 Oct 2022
Clerk's Entry of Default of the United States District and Bankruptcy Courts for the District of Columbia
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Clerk's Entry of Default of the United States District and Bankruptcy Courts for the District of Columbia
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Clerk's Entry of Default of the United States District and Bankruptcy Courts for the District of Columbia
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16 Nov 2022
Judgment on Additional Reasons of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales [2022] EWHC 2906
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Judgment on Additional Reasons of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales [2022] EWHC 2906
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Sole Arbitrator
ICSID Annulment Committee president
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Butcher
Claimant's counsel
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Judgment on Additional Reasons of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales [2022] EWHC 2906
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5 Dec 2022
Judgment of the Rotterdam District Court
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Judgment of the Rotterdam District Court
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Judgment of the Rotterdam District Court
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13 Jul 2023
Judgement of the UK Court of Appeal
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Judgement of the UK Court of Appeal
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Claimant appointee
Claimant appointee:
Jeremy Cooke
Respondent appointee
Respondent appointee:
Nicholas Phillips
Tribunal/Panel chair
Chair/President:
Murray Gleeson
Arbitrator(s)
Sole Arbitrator
ICSID Annulment Committee president
ICSID Annulment Committee members
WTO Appellate Body members
WTO Appellate Body chair
Judges
Claimant's counsel
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Judgement of the UK Court of Appeal
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30 Apr 2024
Memorandum Opinion of the US District Court for the District of Columbia
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Memorandum Opinion of the US District Court for the District of Columbia
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Arbitrator(s)
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Jia M. Cobb
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Memorandum Opinion of the US District Court for the District of Columbia
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30 Oct 2024
Judgment of the Rotterdam District Court (Dutch)
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Judgment of the Rotterdam District Court (Dutch)
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Judgment of the Rotterdam District Court (Dutch)
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24 Oct 2025
Opinion of the Attorney General for the Supreme Court of the Netherlands
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Opinion of the Attorney General for the Supreme Court of the Netherlands
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Opinion of the Attorney General for the Supreme Court of the Netherlands
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23 Jan 2026
Judgment of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands (Dutch)
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Judgment of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands (Dutch)
Participants listed are for this document only and may not include all participants involved in the entire case. Always consult the original documents.
Claimant appointee
Respondent appointee
Tribunal/Panel chair
Arbitrator(s)
Sole Arbitrator
ICSID Annulment Committee president
ICSID Annulment Committee members
WTO Appellate Body members
WTO Appellate Body chair
Judges
Dineke de Groot, Christopher Edgar du Perron, Henriëtte M. Wattendorff, Sierd Joarda Schaafsma, Karlijn Teuben
Claimant's counsel
Thijs van Zanten
Respondent's counsel
Arjan van den Steenhoven, Marcus Wagemakers
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Country in which this occurs:
Netherlands
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National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), Crescent
Document Summary
Judgment of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands (Dutch)
This summary note is machine-generated. Always consult the original materials.

Procedural Background and Core Issue

This decision of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands (Hoge Raad) addresses an appeal in cassation filed by the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) against a judgment of the Hague Court of Appeal. The lower court had affirmed a decision granting leave for the recognition and enforcement in the Netherlands of two foreign arbitral awards rendered in London in favour of Crescent c.s. The awards required NIOC to pay over US$2.4 billion in damages.

The central legal issue before the Supreme Court was whether to overturn its long-standing precedent, established in Rosneft/Yukos Capital (2010), concerning the "asymmetrical bar on appeals" (asymmetrisch rechtsmiddelenverbod) under former Article 1075 of the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure. This doctrine prohibits an ordinary appeal against a judicial decision granting enforcement of a foreign arbitral award, while permitting an appeal against a decision refusing enforcement.

The Supreme Court's Analysis and Reaffirmation of Precedent

The Supreme Court explicitly declined NIOC's request to reconsider its Rosneft/Yukos Capital jurisprudence. The Court reaffirmed its position that the asymmetrical bar on appeals is essential for compliance with the non-discrimination principle set forth in Article III of the 1958 New York Convention. It reasoned that permitting an appeal against an order granting enforcement would make the procedure for foreign awards "considerably more burdensome" (aanmerkelijk bezwaarlijker) than the corresponding procedure for domestic awards, which would constitute a violation of Article III.

The Court found that the arguments advanced by NIOC did not provide a sufficient basis to depart from this established line of case law. It held that the core rationale of the precedent—to ensure that the enforcement of foreign awards is not subject to more onerous conditions than domestic awards—remains valid.

Disposition

Consequently, the Supreme Court dismissed NIOC's appeal in cassation. The other grounds of appeal were summarily dismissed pursuant to Article 81(1) of the Dutch Judiciary Act, as they did not raise questions of law pertinent to legal unity or development. NIOC was ordered to bear the costs of the cassation proceedings.