Dubai

ArbitrateAD, Arbitration institution, DIAC, Dubai, Middle East, New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, Singapore, United Arab Emirates

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In September 2021, the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) issued Decree No. 34 of 2021 (“Decree 34”) by which the DIFC Arbitration Institution, the administering body of the DIFC-LCIA arbitration centre (“DIFC-LCIA”) was abolished with immediate effect, and all its obligations, rights, and resources were assigned to the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (“DIAC”). Decree 34 also…

ADGM, ArbitrateAD, Costs in arbitral proceedings, CRCICA, Dubai, ICC Rules, LCIA Rules, MENA, SCCA, SIAC, UAE, UAE Federal Arbitration Law

, (Galadari Advocates & Legal Consultants)/ /1 Comment

On 5 February 2024, the Dubai Court of Cassation (“DCC”) issued a judgment in Commercial Case No. 821/2023 (“DCC Judgment”). It upheld an earlier judgment of the Dubai Court of Appeal (“CoA”) which set aside an arbitration award issued under the ICC Rules of Arbitration  2021 (“ICC Rules 2021”) in part concerning the recovery of…

Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Enforcement, MENA

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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…

Abu Dhabi, DIAC, Dubai, KSA, MENA, SCCA

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Abu Dhabi’s latest foray, the Abu Dhabi International Arbitration Centre, came into effect on 1 February 2024. Branded and referred to as arbitrateAD, its new set of arbitration rules (“arbitrateAD Rules”) was published on 1 February 2024 and consists of a newly established Board of Directors and Court of Arbitration. In this post, we provide a…

Dubai, MENA, United Arab Emirates

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The United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) courts have traditionally held that arbitration is an exceptional means of resolving disputes. However, in recent years, there has been a significant shift in the UAE courts’ approach with decisions confirming that arbitration is not merely an exceptional means of resolving parties’ disputes, but an equal alternative to litigation. In…

Advance on Costs, Arbitration Agreement, DIAC, Dubai

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In a recent decision, Case No. 10/2023 dated 24 October 2023, the General Assembly of the Dubai Court of Cassation decided to reverse a position introduced by the Dubai Courts of Cassation in around 2013 (see, e.g., Case No. 379/2013 (Real Estate), ruling of the Dubai Court of Cassation; and then also affirmed in Case…

Arbitration, Construction, Dubai, UAE

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In a region characterized by infrastructure projects and ambitious architectural feats that shape the nation’s skyline, arbitration has emerged as a common choice in the industry for settling construction disputes. This preference arises as foreign parties can sidestep entwining with local courts, enjoy privacy, and present their matters to arbitrators who are well-versed with the…

Advance on Costs, Arbitration Agreement, Dubai

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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…

Arbitration clause, Dubai, UAE, UAE Federal Arbitration Law

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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…

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…

Advance on Costs, DIAC, Dubai, Jurisdiction, United Arab Emirates

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In a recent ruling of 8 June 2023 in Case No. 1514 of 2022, the Dubai Court of Cassation has taken a fresh look at a number of procedural questions that frequently arise in UAE-seated arbitrations under the 2018 UAE Federal Arbitration Law (“FAL”). There are three particular issues stemming from this recent ruling of…

Advance on Costs, Construction, Construction arbitration, Costs, Costs in arbitral proceedings, Dubai, UAE, UAE Federal Arbitration Law

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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…

Abu Dhabi, Courts, Dubai, MENA, Pathological arbitration agreement, UAE, UAE Federal Arbitration Law, Uncategorized

(Al Owais Advocates & Legal Consultants)/ /1 Comment

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…

Dubai, Interview, Interviews with Our Editors, Saudi Arabia, SCCA, United Arab Emirates

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Fatima, thank you for joining us on the Kluwer Arbitration Blog and congratulations on your recent appointment as Director of SCCA Dubai, as SCCA opens its doors to its first regional office outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (“KSA”). We are grateful to have the opportunity to share your unique perspective with our readers. Your…

Dubai, New York Convention, New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, UAE

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

The UAE acceded to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Award 1958 (“NYC”) in 2006 by virtue of Federal Decree No. 43 of 2006. In recent years, the approach taken by the onshore UAE courts towards the enforcement and recognition of awards under the NYC, including the challenges of…

Dubai, Enforcement, United Arab Emirates

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On 21 April 2022, the Dubai Court of Cassation (the “Cassation Court”) issued a judgment in respect of an application for the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitration award in case no. 109 of 2022 (the “Judgment”, available in Arabic-only on the Court’s website). In the Judgment, the Cassation Court considered whether an arbitration award…

DIAC, Dubai, LIDW2022, Middle East, UAE

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As part of the 2022 London International Disputes Week, Arbitration Chambers, Clyde & Co, Hausfeld, Jones Day and LexisNexis organized a conference on “London as an international disputes hub for Dubai, UAE and region disputes: arbitration and the courts – is it still safe to arbitrate in Dubai, and other hot topics”. The panel was…

DIAC, Dubai, Institutional Arbitration, UAE

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As previously reported on the Blog (here and here), in September 2021, Dubai Decree No. 34 of 2021 (Decree), and a new statute (Statute) regulating the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC or Centre), made significant changes to the institutional arbitration landscape in the UAE, by consolidating all local arbitration centres into a single arbitration centre,…

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

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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

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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…

Arbitration Agreements, Dubai, Jurisdiction, UAE, UAE Federal Arbitration Law

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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”)…

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

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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),…

Arbitration Agreements, Construction arbitration, Dubai, MENA

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The Dubai Court of Cassation, in its recent judgement, DCC 1308 of 2020, explored the effect of incorporation of arbitration clauses by reference. Typically, “incorporation by reference” refers to parties agreeing to incorporate arbitral clauses found in separate standard-form agreements (“SFAs”) into the agreement between the parties by making reference to the same. Such reference…