The United Mexican States appealed a Superior Court of Justice decision that affirmed an arbitral tribunal's jurisdiction in a claim brought by Burr et al. under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The arbitral tribunal had bifurcated proceedings into jurisdiction and merits phases, ruling it had jurisdiction over most claims.
Mexico's application to the Superior Court to set aside this jurisdictional ruling was dismissed.
Burr et al. moved to quash Mexico's appeal to the Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal granted the motion to quash, holding that the arbitral tribunal's ruling was a preliminary question of jurisdiction under Article 16(3) of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration.
This article stipulates that a Superior Court's decision on such a preliminary jurisdictional ruling is 'subject to no appeal'.
The Court found that Mexico had not substantively pursued arguments under Article 34, which would permit an appeal, before the application judge.
