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Air Canada v. Venezuela, Memorandum of Points and Authorities Supporting Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss the Petition to Confirm Arbitral Award, November 17, 2025

17 Nov 2025
Air Canada v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, ICSID Case No. ARB(AF)/17/1
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Memorandum of Points and Authorities Supporting Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss the Petition to Confirm Arbitral Award
Document Details:
LISTED PARTICIPANTS
Memorandum of Points and Authorities Supporting Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss the Petition to Confirm Arbitral Award
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
Claimant's counsel
Claimant's law firm
Respondent's counsel
Gregory A. Paw, Jennifer Arbittier Williams, Jennifer K. Welsh, Sean L. Freeh
Respondent's law firm
Other counsel
Claimant's expert
Claimant's expert firm
Respondent's expert
Respondent's expert firm
Claimant's witness
Respondent's witness
Other witnesses
Tribunal secretary
Tribunal assistant
Third-party funder
Entities
Air Canada, Freeh Sporkin & Sullivan, De Jesús & De Jesús, Comisión de Administración de Divisas, Venezuela
Country
United States
Print reporter
Document Summary
Memorandum of Points and Authorities Supporting Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss the Petition to Confirm Arbitral Award
This summary note is machine-generated. Always consult the original materials.

Procedural Posture

This document is a Memorandum of Points and Authorities submitted by the Defendant, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (acting through the 2015 National Assembly), in support of its Motion to Dismiss a petition filed by Air Canada. The Plaintiff seeks to confirm and enforce a final arbitral award rendered by an ICSID tribunal on September 13, 2021, pursuant to the New York Convention and Chapter 2 of the Federal Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C. § 207). The enforcement proceedings are situated before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Principal Legal Issues and Party Positions

The core legal issue is whether the enforcement of the arbitral award should be refused under Article V of the New York Convention on public policy, due process, and jurisdictional grounds. Venezuela asserts that the underlying arbitral proceedings were defended exclusively by the illegitimate regime of Nicolás Maduro, to the complete exclusion of the 2015 National Assembly, which is the sole government recognized by the United States Executive Branch.

The Defendant argues that confirming the award would violate the public policy exception under Article V(2)(b) of the New York Convention by contravening the U.S. Executive Branch’s exclusive constitutional authority to recognize foreign governments. Furthermore, Venezuela contends that the arbitral tribunal deprived the recognized government of its due process right to present its case (Article V(1)(b)) by permitting unauthorized counsel appointed by the Maduro regime to represent the Republic. Finally, the Defendant asserts under Article V(1)(c) that the tribunal exceeded its jurisdiction by rendering a decision on the proper legal representation of the State—a matter the tribunal itself acknowledged as a "political and constitutional issue" beyond its authority.

Relief Sought

Based on these jurisdictional, due process, and public policy defects, the recognized government of Venezuela requests that the District Court refuse recognition and enforcement of the arbitral award and dismiss Air Canada's petition in its entirety.