The Middle East and North Africa (“MENA”) region entered 2024 amidst continuing political and economic instability. In spite of these challenging circumstances, the past year brought significant advancements in the international dispute resolution space—building on those already achieved in 2023. 2024 saw Abu Dhabi launch the brand new Abu Dhabi International Arbitration Centre (as discussed…
On the first day of Seoul Arbitration Festival 2024, law firms Yoon&Yang, 39 Essex Chambers, and Al Tamimi & Company hosted a panel discussion titled ‘New and Renewable Energy Landscape in Korea and Beyond—Current Issues in Project Development and Dispute Resolution.’ The discussion was divided into two sessions. The first session focused on current new…
The recent decision by the Bahrain Court of Cassation (“COC”) in Case No. 31 of 2023, issued on 8 January 2024 (“COC Judgment”), marks a significant development in the application of arbitration clauses to non-signatories for Bahrain-seated arbitrations. The case centred on the interpretation of an arbitration clause in a sub-subcontract (“Sub-Subcontract”) and its applicability…
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…
The Bahrain Court of Cassation (“COC”) in Case No. 53 of 2021 clarified the uncertainty surrounding the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. The COC in this case established an expedited enforcement process of arbitral awards in Bahrain and confirmed that a decision of the Bahrain Court of First Instance (“CFI”) granting the enforcement of an…
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…
After a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the much-anticipated third ICC Kuwait Arbitration Day took place at the heart of Kuwait in the Burj Al Shaya Building on 5 October 2023, organised by the ICC in collaboration with Al Tamimi & Company. Following the success of the inaugural ICC Kuwait Arbitration Day conference in…
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…
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…
The grounding of the container carrier “EVER GIVEN” in the Suez Canal in March 2021 has been dubbed by some as “shipping’s 15 minutes of fame”. This post hitches its star to that wagon and considers the contracts, claims and dispute resolution clauses likely to be affected by this casualty. The Casualty, Salvage and…
Each of the major arbitral institutions requires that parties furnish some form of advance on costs before an arbitration can proceed. The advance on costs is a deposit paid by the parties to cover fees and expenses of the tribunal and the institution’s administrative expenses (“Advance”). Whilst payment of an Advance is often perceived as…
The announcement on 13 August 2020 of a rapprochement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’) took the world by surprise. Seasoned regional observers noted quiet cooperation and cross-border transactions over the past few years, but few expected these covert relationships to burst into public view so fully and wholeheartedly. The joint declaration, soon…
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…
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…
The Middle East Vis Pre-Moot Program (the “Program”), scheduled in Bahrain from 10 to 14 March 2020, was prepared and excited to welcome over 200 students, faculty, and lawyers to celebrate the Program’s 10th anniversary. However, on 25 February, amid the unfortunate COVID-19 global pandemic, Bahrain took precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the…
As the backbone of globalization, the shipping industry is at the heart of cross-border transportation networks that support supply chains and facilitate international trade. In the MENA region, the maritime sector is a significant industry. In order to manage the rise in foreign trade, both governments and the maritime industry have increased investment into the…
Dr Ismail Selim, thank you for joining us on the Kluwer Arbitration Blog! We are grateful to have the opportunity to share your unique perspective with our readers. 1. Could you give our readers a brief introduction to yourself and your route to becoming Director at CRCICA? I graduated from Cairo University in 1997…
In light of several recent developments in Morocco, its status as an international arbitration hub in Africa is worth a focus. This blog post will specifically consider the rise and recognition of economic opportunities in Africa, Morocco’s lead as a diplomatic power in Africa, the country’s experience with investment and commercial arbitration, and the emergence…
Introduction On 9 December 2018, the UAE adopted Cabinet Resolution No. 57 of 2018, which entered into force on 16 February 2019 (the “Cabinet Resolution“). The Cabinet Resolution introduces significant amendments to the UAE Civil Procedure Code (Federal Law No. 11 of 1992), which considerably enhance a wide array of procedures before the UAE onshore…
On 27 March 2017, the Secretary-General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (“PCA“) designated an appointing authority in an OIC arbitration by applying the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, despite the absence of any reference to these Rules in the OIC Agreement. This decision, which concerns a pending case, DS. Construction v. Libya , could mark the…
Introduction The United Arab Emirates (the “UAE”) is a signatory to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of 1958 (the “NYC”), which was adopted into UAE law by Federal Decree No. 43 of 2006. However, there have been instances where the lower courts of the UAE have come…
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,…
The year of 2018 brought a wave of important arbitration events, developments, precedents and legislative reforms in the Middle East. Join the Kluwer Arbitration Blog’s (KAB) regional editorial team (Dalal Al Houti, Zahra Rose Khawaja, and Gloria Alvarez) as we reflect on a few of these developments and thank the authors who enabled us to provide…
