Can a foreign arbitration award be enforced against assets in Malta?

Malta is a party to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, and this is reflected in the enforcement provisions of the Arbitration Act, Chapter 387 of the Laws of Malta, meaning that, in principle, a foreign arbitration award made in another Convention country can be recognised and enforced in Malta without needing to relitigate the underlying dispute from scratch, subject to a formal application to the competent Maltese court and certain limited, defined grounds on which recognition or enforcement could potentially be refused, such as a serious procedural defect in the original arbitration or the award being contrary to Maltese public policy. The practical process generally involves formally applying to the Maltese courts for recognition and enforcement of the award, supported by the required documentation such as the original award and the underlying arbitration agreement, after which, once recognised, the award can be enforced against assets in Malta in broadly the same way as a local judgment. Given the procedural and documentary requirements involved in cross-border enforcement, it would be important to engage a Maltese lawyer experienced in New York Convention enforcement to guide this process correctly from the outset.