Interpretation
3 Interpretation
In this Part, unless the contrary intention appears:
agreement in writing has the same meaning as in the Convention.
arbitral award has the same meaning as in the Convention.
arbitration agreement means an agreement in writing of the kind referred to in sub‑article 1 of Article II of the Convention.
Australia includes the Territories.
Convention means the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards adopted in 1958 by the United Nations Conference on International Commercial Arbitration at its twenty‑fourth meeting, a copy of the English text of which is set out in Schedule 1.
Convention country means a country (other than Australia) that is a Contracting State within the meaning of the Convention.
Convention on Transparency means the United Nations Convention on Transparency in Treaty‑based Investor‑State Arbitration, done at Mauritius on 10 December 2014.
court means any court in Australia, including, but not limited to, the Federal Court of Australia and a court of a State or Territory.
data message means information generated, sent, received or stored by electronic, magnetic, optical or similar means, including, but not limited to, electronic data interchange (EDI), email, telegram, telex or telecopy.
electronic communication means any communication made by means of data messages.
Foreign Affairs Department means the Department administered by the Minister administering the Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities Act 1967.
foreign award means an arbitral award made, in pursuance of an arbitration agreement, in a country other than Australia, being an arbitral award in relation to which the Convention applies.
Transparency Rules means the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Rules on Transparency in Treaty‑based Investor‑State Arbitration.
In this Part, where the context so admits, enforcement, in relation to a foreign award, includes the recognition of the award as binding for any purpose, and enforce and enforced have corresponding meanings.
For the purposes of this Part, a body corporate shall be taken to be ordinarily resident in a country if, and only if, it is incorporated or has its principal place of business in that country.
For the avoidance of doubt and without limiting subsection (1), an agreement is in writing if:
its content is recorded in any form whether or not the agreement or the contract to which it relates has been concluded orally, by conduct, or by other means; or
it is contained in an electronic communication and the information in that communication is accessible so as to be usable for subsequent reference; or
it is contained in an exchange of statements of claim and defence in which the existence of an agreement is alleged by one party and not denied by the other.
For the avoidance of doubt and without limiting subsection (1), a reference in a contract to any document containing an arbitration clause is an arbitration agreement, provided that the reference is such as to make the clause part of the contract.
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