§654. Arbitration award and judgment

(a) Filing and Effect of Arbitration Award.-An arbitration award made by an arbitrator under this chapter, along with proof of service of such award on the other party by the prevailing party or by the plaintiff, shall, promptly after the arbitration hearing is concluded, be filed with the clerk of the district court that referred the case to arbitration. Such award shall be entered as the judgment of the court after the time has expired for requesting a trial de novo under section 655. The judgment so entered shall be subject to the same provisions of law and shall have the same force and effect as a judgment of the court in a civil action, except that the judgment shall not be subject to review in any other court by appeal or otherwise.

(b) Sealing of Arbitration Award.-The district court shall provide by local rule that the contents of any arbitration award made under this chapter shall not be made known to any judge who might be assigned to the case-

(1) except as necessary for the court to determine whether to assess costs or attorney fees under section 655,

(2) until the district court has entered final judgment in the action or the action has been otherwise terminated, or

(3) except for purposes of preparing the report required by section 903(b) of the Judicial Improvements and Access to Justice Act.

(c) Taxation of Costs.-The district court may by rule allow for the inclusion of costs as provided in section 1920 of this title as a part of the arbitration award.

(Added Pub. L. 100–702, title IX, §901(a), Nov. 19, 1988, 102 Stat. 4660 .)

References in Text

Section 903(b) of the Judicial Improvements and Access to Justice Act, referred to in subsec. (b)(3), is section 903(b) of Pub. L. 100–702, which is set out as a note under section 651 of this title.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in section 655 of this title.