White & Case defeats application to set aside Roads Department of Georgia ICC arbitration award

Global law firm White & Case LLP has defeated an application brought before the Paris Court of Appeal to set aside an ICC arbitration award issued in 2022 in favour of the Roads Department of the Georgian Ministry of Infrastructure.

In the 2022 award, the Roads Department, also represented by White & Case LLP, had obtained compensation and costs from Astaldi S.p.A. (Astaldi), an Italian contractor, in a dispute arising out of a terminated highway construction project in Georgia.

In the annulment proceedings initiated against the award before the Paris Court of Appeal, Astaldi, renamed Astaris S.p.A (Astaris), raised three main arguments. First, Astaris alleged that the award breached French international public policy as it had ordered it to pay sums despite the pendency of insolvency proceedings in Italy. Second, Astaris argued that the tribunal had exceeded its mandate by mistakenly awarding sums not claimed by the Roads Department. Third, Astaris alleged a violation of due process as the award of these sums had not been debated in the arbitration.

In its decision rendered on 9 September 2025, the Paris Court of Appeal dismissed all the grounds for annulment, fully siding with the Roads Department's arguments. Of significant legal interest, the Court addressed the scope of French international public policy in the context of foreign insolvency proceedings. The Court held that the public policy principle of equal treatment of creditors in insolvency proceedings should be interpreted in light of the national law governing the insolvency proceedings, and found in that respect that Italian law allows arbitral proceedings to move forward despite the fact that the debtor has entered insolvency proceedings, and only freezes enforcement measures on the debtor's assets. The Court concluded that the award complied with international public policy. It also confirmed that the tribunal acted within its mandate and that due process was followed.

The White & Case team in Paris representing the Roads Department was led by partner Charles Nairac and included associates Niels Aujouannet-Kelner and Federico Euforbio and arbitration consultant Professor Benjamin Remy.

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