(a) Recourse to a court against an arbitration award may be made only by an application for setting aside in accordance with subsections (b) and (c) of this Code section.
§ 9-9-56.Recourse against arbitration award; criteria for setting aside award; time for making application to set aside
Chapter 9. Arbitration · Article 1. General Provisions · Last amended 2012 · Last verified July 17, 2026
In one sentenceSection 9-9-56 makes an application to set aside the exclusive way to challenge an award in court, limits that application to a closed list of grounds — incapacity or an invalid arbitration agreement, lack of proper notice or inability to present one’s case, an award exceeding the submission’s scope, improper tribunal composition or procedure, non-arbitrable subject matter, or conflict with United States public policy — requires filing within three months, and lets the court suspend the case to give the tribunal a chance to cure the defect.
Full Text of § 9-9-56
(b) An arbitration award may be set aside by the court specified in Code Section 9-9-27 only if:
(1) The party making the application furnishes proof that:
(A) A party to the arbitration agreement referred to in Code Section 9-9-28 was under some incapacity; or that said arbitration agreement is not valid under the law to which the parties have subjected it or, failing any indication thereon, under the law of this state;
(B) The party making the application was not given proper notice of the appointment of an arbitrator or of the arbitral proceedings or was otherwise unable to present his or her case;
(C) The arbitration award deals with a dispute not contemplated by or not falling within the terms of the submission to arbitration or contains decisions on matters beyond the scope of the submission to arbitration, provided that, if the decisions on matters submitted to arbitration can be separated from those not so submitted, only that part of the arbitration award which contains decisions on matters not submitted to arbitration may be set aside; or
(D) The composition of the arbitration tribunal or the arbitral procedure was not in accordance with the arbitration agreement of the parties, unless such arbitration agreement was in conflict with a provision of this part from which the parties cannot derogate, or, failing such agreement, was not in accordance with this part; or
(2) The court finds that:
(A) The subject matter of the dispute is not capable of settlement by arbitration under the law of the United States; or
(B) The arbitration award is in conflict with the public policy of the United States.
(c) An application for setting aside an arbitration award may not be made after three months have elapsed from the date on which the party making that application had received the arbitration award or, if a request had been made under Code Section 9-9-55, from the date on which that request had been disposed of by the arbitration tribunal.
(d) The court, when asked to set aside an arbitration award, may, where appropriate and requested by a party, suspend the setting aside proceedings for a period of time determined by it in order to give the arbitration tribunal an opportunity to resume the arbitral proceedings or to take such other action as in the arbitration tribunal’s opinion will eliminate the grounds for setting aside.
(e) Where none of the parties is domiciled or has its place of business in this state, they may, by written agreement referencing this subsection, limit any of the grounds for recourse against the arbitration award under this Code section, with the exception of paragraph (2) of subsection (b) of this Code section.
Plain-English Summary
This section answers a question that decides whether a losing party in international arbitration gets a real second chance in court: not much of one, and only along a narrow path. Setting aside the award is the only route to judicial recourse against it, and the grounds for doing so form a closed list, not an open invitation to relitigate the merits.
The first set of grounds requires the challenging party to prove something went wrong: a party lacked capacity, or the arbitration agreement itself was not valid under the law the parties chose to govern it or, absent that choice, under the law of Georgia; the challenger did not get proper notice of the arbitrator’s appointment or the proceedings, or otherwise could not present its case; the award strayed outside what was submitted to arbitration in the first place (though a court can sever just the excess portion if it is separable); or the tribunal’s makeup or the procedure followed departed from what the parties agreed — unless that agreement conflicted with a provision of the code the parties cannot depart from — or, absent an agreement, from the code’s own rules. A second, narrower set lets the court act on its own finding — that the dispute was not the kind subject matter can be arbitrated at all, or that the award conflicts with United States public policy.
Timing is unforgiving: the application has to be filed within three months of receiving the award, or, if a request was made under Code Section 9-9-55, within three months of the tribunal disposing of that request. The court is not limited to an all-or-nothing choice, either — if a party asks, it can pause the setting-aside proceedings to give the tribunal room to resume the case or take other action that eliminates the problem, rather than throwing out the award outright. And when neither party is domiciled or based in Georgia, the parties can, by a written agreement that specifically references this subsection, narrow the available grounds further, though they cannot waive the two grounds a court can raise on its own — non-arbitrability and public policy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the only way to challenge an international arbitration award in a Georgia court?
An application for setting aside the award, made in accordance with this section — that is the only recourse to a court against the award.
What must a party prove to get an award set aside for lack of notice?
That the party making the application was not given proper notice of the appointment of an arbitrator or of the arbitral proceedings, or was otherwise unable to present its case.
Can a court set aside an award just because it disagrees with the tribunal’s decision on the merits?
No — the grounds are limited to specific defects like incapacity, an invalid arbitration agreement, lack of notice or an inability to present one’s case, an award exceeding its submitted scope, improper tribunal composition or procedure, non-arbitrable subject matter, or conflict with United States public policy; disagreement with the merits is not one of them.
How long does a party have to file an application to set aside an award?
Three months from the date the party received the award, or, if a request was made under Code Section 9-9-55, three months from the date the tribunal disposed of that request.
Can parties agree in advance to limit the grounds for challenging an award?
Yes, but only where neither party is domiciled or has its place of business in Georgia, and only through a written agreement that specifically references this subsection — even then, they cannot limit the court’s power to set aside an award for non-arbitrable subject matter or conflict with public policy.
Amendment History
Code 1981, § 9-9-56, enacted by Ga. L. 2012, p. 961, § 1/SB 383.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, published by the
Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Georgia Code Revision Commission / LexisNexis. Last verified July 17, 2026.
· Official source
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