In recent years, the electronic signature of awards has become widely accepted under various laws and institutional rules, particularly as a result of the increased reliance on the virtual world caused by the pandemic. As discussed in a previous blog post, while some jurisdictions still require awards to be signed by wet ink signatures, many…
There has been a requirement in the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) for witnesses to take an oath when giving their testimony in arbitration proceedings. Awards that relied on testimonies of witnesses who had not taken an oath were subject to nullification. There is currently uncertainty over whether witnesses are still required to take an oath…
Amongst the strides taken by the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) in recent years, there is the improvement made to the enforcement process of foreign awards in the UAE courts. This post examines the legislative changes made in this area, how the UAE courts have approached applications for the enforcement of foreign awards and the grounds…
In a recent decision, the General Assembly of the Dubai Court of Cassation (“General Assembly”) decided that non-payment of the advance on arbitration costs does not affect the arbitration clause which remains in force and can continue to be relied upon by the parties. This decision reflects a complete reversal of the prior majority view…
In a recent decision, Court of Cassation No. 585/2023 (Commercial), the Dubai Court of Cassation (“COC”) concluded that the invalidity of a contract extends to the arbitration clause included in the underlying contract. This post blog examines this decision, the outcome of which is contrary to well-established UAE law as well as prior Dubai court…
As the pool of international arbitrators has grown, and continues to grow, acting as an arbitrator is now seen more as a career path as opposed to a retirement plan. In fact, we can now confidently say that a profession of arbitrators exists. With this, the identity of a typical arbitrator has significantly changed, and the…
In a judgment issued by the Dubai Court of Cassation (“COC”) on 8 June 2023 (Dubai Court of Cassation No. 1514/2022 Commercial), the COC confirmed that the condition precedent of referring the dispute to the engineer prior to filing arbitral proceedings is an issue pertaining to admissibility, not jurisdiction. The same judgment also provided insight…
Pathological clauses are not an infrequent occurrence in the arbitration world. We often see arbitration clauses which are poorly drafted and may result in rendering the clause inoperable. Being able to predict how a court would treat a pathological clause would help the parties and specifically the party wishing to file proceedings decide whether they…
A topic that has been hugely debated in the arbitration world is whether non-payment of the advance on arbitration costs constitutes waiver of the arbitration clause. The answer to this debate does not only differ from one jurisdiction to another but may differ in the same jurisdiction. This blog post examines how the courts in…
The United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) adhered to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, also known as the New York Convention (“New York Convention”) in 2006. Joining the New York Convention was done through Federal Decree No. 43 of 2006. This post examines how the New York Convention has been implemented…
The United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) has taken strides in increasingly accepting arbitration as the parties’ chosen dispute resolution mechanism. It is now well established that UAE courts would respect the parties’ agreement on arbitration and uphold valid arbitration clauses. In fact, Article 8(1) of the Federal Law on Arbitration, No. 6 (2018) (“UAE Arbitration Law”)…
The authority required to agree to arbitration on behalf of a juristic person has been a heavily debated issue in the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”). This blog post examines relevant legislation and case law with respect to limited liability companies and public joint stock companies in an attempt to reach a conclusion on what type…
One of the questions that the legal community in the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) has been grappling with is whether or not commercial agency disputes are arbitrable. Decisions have been issued invalidating arbitration agreements in the context of commercial agency disputes. However, contrary decisions upholding arbitration agreements have also been issued. This post examines one…
There has been a lot of debate in recent years on whether attorneys’ fees, or in other words counsels’ fees, can be awarded under the applicable laws in the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”). This post examines a recent decision, Cassation No. 990/2019 Commercial, issued by the Dubai Court which deals with attorneys’ fees. Prior court…
