§ 172.146.Award on Agreed Terms

The settlement converted into an award, and the conversion is complete.

The award on agreed terms comes from Section 172.117, where the parties request it and the tribunal does not object.

It must state that it is an arbitration award. The document has to say what it is.

Its status is the same as any other award on the substance of the dispute.

Effect follows status. It is enforced through the machinery built for awards rather than as a contract.

That is the whole reason parties ask for it. A settlement agreement breached is a new lawsuit; an award unpaid goes to confirmation and judgment.

Cross-border enforcement is the bigger prize. An award can be taken to courts in other countries under the conventions built for awards, and a private settlement contract cannot.

Reasons are excused. Section 172.141(b) exempts an award on agreed terms from the requirement to state reasons, which fits a document recording what the parties chose.

The other form requirements still apply — writing, signatures, date and place under Section 172.141.

Conciliation reaches the same place by another route. A settlement meeting the three conditions in Section 172.211 carries award status without any tribunal recording it.