DIFC

DIAC, DIFC, Enforceability, Enforcement, Enforcement of an arbitration clause, MENA, New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, UAE

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

In a recent ruling of 20 June 2024 (ARB 009/2024 Narcisco v. Nash), the Dubai International Financial Centre (“DIFC”) Court of First Instance (“DIFC CFI”) was asked, as part of a wider investigation to grant an anti-suit injunction, to consider the validity of an arbitration agreement that provided for arbitration under the DIFC-London Court of…

DIFC, MENA

(Watson Farley & Williams (Middle East) LLP)/ /Leave a comment

On 6 November 2023, the United States (“US“) District Court of New Orleans, Louisiana (“Louisiana Court“) rendered a decision on the enforceability of a DIFC-LCIA arbitration clause. The Louisiana Court ruled that the DIFC-LCIA arbitration clause was unenforceable because it referred to an arbitral institution that had been abolished. This decision from the Louisiana Court…

Abu Dhabi, DIFC, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

(Habib Al Mulla & Partners) and (Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi)/ /Leave a comment

On 29 September 2023, the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”)’s recently published Federal Law No. 15 of 2023 (“Amendment Law”) entered into force, effectively amending Federal Law No. 6 of 2018 On Arbitration (“2018 Arbitration Law”) that was adopted a mere five years earlier. The 2018 Arbitration Law was itself a long-awaited and significant rehaul of…

2021 in Review, Abu Dhabi, DIAC, DIFC, Dubai, KSA, Middle East, Qatar, UAE, UAE Federal Arbitration Law

, (Al Tamimi & Company)/ /Leave a comment

Amidst reeling from the pandemic of 2020, 2021 witnessed a number of arbitration-related transformations, developments and notable decisions issued by the national courts in the Middle East. In this post, we focus in on the Middle East region to reflect on the significant developments that took place in arbitral centres, summarize key judgments issued by…

Arbitration, DIAC, DIFC, Dubai, MENA

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

The recent adoption of Decree No. 34/2021 (see Dubai Government Decree No. 34 of 2021, which entered into force with effect from 20 September 2021) provides for the consolidation of local arbitration centers into a single institution, the Dubai International Arbitration Centre 2.0 (DIAC 2.0). Some perspectives on Decree No. 34/2021 have already been shared…

DIAC, DIFC, Dubai

(Baker McKenzie Habib Al Mulla) and (Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi)/ /1 Comment

Dubai’s Decree 34 of 2021 (“Decree”) and its appended statute on DIAC (“Statute”) were promulgated on 14 September 2021. The Decree consolidates the local arbitration centres under a new-and-improved DIAC (“DIAC 2.0”), and notably abolishes the DIFC Arbitration Institute (“DIFC-LCIA”), marking the beginning of a new era for arbitration in Dubai. From the outset, DIAC…

DIAC, DIFC, DIFC conduit jurisdiction, Dubai, MENA, Qatar, Qatar Financial Centre

(Armstrong Teasdale)/ /Leave a comment

On 14 September 2021, a Decree (no. 34) by the government of Dubai (currently only available in Arabic)  (the Decree) abolished two of Dubai’s most successful arbitration institutions: the Dubai Maritime Arbitration Centre (EMAC) and the DIFC-LCIA Centre.1)The DIFC-LCIA was established as a joint venture between Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Dubai Arbitration Institute (DAI),…

Confidentiality, Consolidation, DIFC, Emergency Arbitrator, Expedited Proceedings, LCIA Rules, United Arab Emirates

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

At the dawn of the New Year, following their adoption in November 2020, the revised DIFC-LCIA Rules of Arbitration (the “2021 DIFC-LCIA Rules”) have now entered into force with effect from 1st January 2021. Readers of this blog will recognise the DIFC-LCIA as the free zone sister organization of the London Court of Arbitration (LCIA)…

Arbitration, Data Protection, DIAC, DIFC, UAE

, (Al Tamimi & Company)/ /Leave a comment

The data protection regime in the UAE is complicated. Parties to arbitrations that have connections to the UAE, regardless of whether the arbitrations are seated here, should be aware of the data protection regime(s) that may apply to them to ensure that no unintended breaches occur and to consider whether the relevant data protection regulations…

Abu Dhabi, ADGM, DIFC, Dubai, Free Trade Zones, MENA, Middle East, UAE

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

As some readers of this blog will, no doubt, be aware, free zone arbitration is a comparatively recent phenomenon that has been championed in particular by the UAE in order to create an alternative to arbitrations seated onshore. By way of reminder, in the UAE, free zone arbitrations are seated in one of the judicial…

Abu Dhabi, ADGM, DIFC, Dubai, Free Trade Zones, MENA, Middle East, UAE

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

This is Part 2 of a blog published in two parts. Part 1 dealt with the Abu Dhabi Global Market Court of First Instance (“ADGMCFI”)’s rulings in A3 v. B3 [2019] ADGMCFI 0004 (4 July 2019), enforcing an ADGM arbitration agreement, and in A4 v. B4 [2019] ADGMCFI 0007 (8 October 2019), enforcing a foreign…

2019 In Review, Abu Dhabi, DIFC, DIFC conduit jurisdiction, Dubai, UAE

and (Law Offices of Kiran N Gore PLLC; The George Washington University Law School)/ /Leave a comment

With 2019 concluded and a new decade on the horizon, it is worth reflecting on salient arbitration-related developments in the United Arab Emirates. As a jurisdiction, the UAE is not only a geographically-strategic venue for arbitration, but also a legally strategic one. As Dr. Gordon Blanke explained in his recent post, the UAE offers opportunities…

DIFC, DIFC conduit jurisdiction, Dubai, Middle East, United Arab Emirates

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

At the dawn of the New Year, it is time to provide an update on the Dubai International Financial Court (DIFC)’s role as a conduit. Since the DIFC’s first entry onto the jurisdictional landscape as a conduit for the recognition and enforcement of awards for onward execution against assets of award debtors in onshore Dubai,…

Arbitration, China, Courts, DIFC, International Courts, Singapore International Commercial Court

(Anli Partners)/ /Leave a comment

In June 2018, China launched its first and second International Commercial Courts (the “CICC”). The advent of them represents a prolonged attempt of China to upgrade its judicial system by transplanting the advanced international practices to, according to the Supreme Court of China (the “SPC”), “provide services and protection for the “Belt-and-Road” construction (the “BAR”)”….

DIFC, DIFC conduit jurisdiction, Non-arbitrability, Public Policy, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

To readers of this Blog, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is well known as an arbitration-friendly seat of arbitration in its own right. Developments there are fast apace and have more recently given rise to two challenge actions that, in turn, have raised considerations of arbitrability within the DIFC and the status of the…

DIFC, DIFC conduit jurisdiction, Dubai

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

A recent decision of the Dubai-DIFC Judicial Tribunal (the “JT”) (see Cassation No. 6/2017 (JT) – Assas Investments Limited v. Fius Capital Limited) – even though not quite a saving grace – appears to throw a lifeline to the DIFC Courts in their role as a conduit jurisdiction. Regular readers of this Blog will recall…

Arbitration, DIFC, Dubai

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

This is the final one in sequel of four parts on the status of the DIFC Courts as a conduit jurisdiction. It reports on a further number of recent decisions of the Dubai-DIFC Judicial Committee – also known as the Judicial Tribunal or in shorthand the JT – that question the DIFC Courts’ role as…

DIFC, Dubai

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

In a recent ruling (see Commercial Case No. 1619/2016, ruling of the Dubai Court of First Instance of 15 February 2017), the Dubai Court of First Instance annulled the DIFC Courts’ rulings in the Banyan Tree line of cases (see Case No. ARB/003/2013, rulings of the DIFC Court of First Instance of 2nd April 2015…

DIFC

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

In a blog earlier this year, I reported in some detail on the Dubai-DIFC Judicial Committee’s first decision in Daman v. Oger (see Cassation No. 1/2016 (JT) – Daman Real Capital Partners Company LLC v. Oger Dubai LLC, hearing of 19 December 2016, published by the JT in both English and Arabic). By way of…

DIFC, Financial Industry, Uncategorized

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

To the great excitement (some may say consternation) of the local legal profession, by adoption of a decree earlier this year (see Decree No. (19) of 2016 forming the Judicial Committee of the Dubai Court and the DIFC Courts, dated 9 June 2016), which entered into immediate effect (see Art. 8, Decree No. (19) of…

Abu Dhabi, DIFC, Dubai, UAE

(University College Cork) and (Al Tamimi & Company)/ /Leave a comment

Two years ago, in the case of Banyan Tree v Meydan Group, an arbitral award rendered outside the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) was enforced by the DIFC courts in circumstances where neither party was based nor had assets in the DIFC. The case demonstrated the willingness of the DIFC’s courts to enforce awards rendered…

DIFC, Dubai, Enforcement, Middle East, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /1 Comment

On 15 May 2016, the UAE Ministry of Justice and the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Courts, the courts of the newly established common law free zone carved out of the heart of Abu Dhabi (see my previous reporting here), entered into a Memorandum of Understanding concerning cooperation in legal and judicial matters with immediate…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, DIFC, Domestic Courts, Dubai, Enforcement, Middle East, UAE

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

According to a recent announcement (see the official DIAC website at https://www.dubaichamber.com/en/news/dubai-international-arbitration-centre-opens-an-office-in-difc), the Dubai International Arbitration Centre, widely known by its acronym as the “DIAC”, is set to open a branch in the Dubai International Financial Centre, in shorthand the “DIFC”. This anticipated move is no doubt a promotional exercise to address concerns that the…