UAE

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…

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, BCDR, DIAC, HKIAC Rules, ICC Rules, LCIA, MENA, QICCA, SCCA, SIAC, UAE

, , (Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /Leave a comment

In February 2024, a new arbitration centre was inaugurated in Abu Dhabi.  The Abu Dhabi International Arbitration Centre, known as arbitrateAD (“Centre”) launched as an independent and neutral forum for dispute resolution.  Aligning with established domestic, regional, and global best practices, the Centre aims to position Abu Dhabi as a pivotal hub for international arbitration….

Abu Dhabi, ADGM, CRCICA, Libya, MENA, SCCA, UAE, UAE Federal Arbitration Law

(Al Tamimi & Company)/ /Leave a comment

In the beginning of 2023, a diplomat told the Economist that the Middle East was tired of conflict and that de-escalation and diplomacy would be the orders of the day. While this did not hold true on the political side, it did hold true for the arbitration world. The MENA region witnessed the coming together…

MENA, UAE, UAE Federal Arbitration Law

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

Recent amendments to Federal Law No. 6 on 2018 on Arbitration, the UAE Federal Arbitration Law (“FAL”), introduced by Federal Decree Law No. 15 of 2023 (Amending Certain Provisions of Federal Law No. 6 of 2018 on Arbitration) (“Amendment Law”), give rise to concerns that in an endeavour to improve certain provisions of the FAL,…

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…

UAE, UAE arbitration chapter, UAE Federal Arbitration Law

(American Bar Association) and (Balfaqeeh Advocates & Legal Consultancy)/ /Leave a comment

On 15 September 2023, the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) reformed the legal framework governing arbitration. Under the recently issued Federal Law No. (15) of 2023 (“Amendment Law”), specific amendments have been introduced to key articles of the Federal Arbitration Law No. (6) of 2018 (“UAE Arbitration Law”), a legislation comprising of 61 articles which stands…

Arbitration clause, Dubai, UAE, UAE Federal Arbitration Law

(Al Owais Advocates & Legal Consultants)/ /Leave a comment

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…

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

(Al Owais Advocates & Legal Consultants)/ /Leave a comment

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, 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…

DIAC, Dubai, LIDW2022, Middle East, UAE

(Queen Mary University of London)/ /Leave a comment

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

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

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

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

(Al Owais Advocates & Legal Consultants)/ /Leave a comment

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”)…

Arbitration Agreement, UAE

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

The purpose of a dispute resolution clause is to provide for a process and a forum through which disputes can be resolved efficiently. However, dispute resolution clauses are too often ignored and relegated to the end of contractual negotiations or considered boilerplate provisions without regards to the overall context. Issues may arise from the parties’…

Abu Dhabi, COVID-19, LegalTech, MENA, Technology, UAE, Virtual hearings

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

The Abu Dhabi Global Market Arbitration Centre (“ADGMAC”) introduced its Protocol for Remote Hearings (“Protocol”) in June 2021. The Protocol provides parties, their lawyers and the Tribunal with a set of procedural and logistical arrangements for the conduct of hearings that may be conducted remotely (whether fully or in part). Previously, in September 2019, ADGMAC…

Arbitration Agreement, Arbitration Agreements, Dubai, UAE

, (Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /1 Comment

The Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation in Case No. 922 of 2020 recently considered the requirements that must be satisfied to conclude an arbitration agreement by powers of attorney. The judgment is the latest in a line of authorities confirming that special requirements apply to the formation of arbitration agreements (a courtesy translation of the…

COVID-19, LegalTech, MENA, Technology, UAE, UAE arbitration chapter, UAE Federal Arbitration Law

(Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP) and (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP)/ /Leave a comment

There is at least one commonality between new technologies and arbitration in that they both aim to make processes more accessible to users.  Indeed, the two should go hand-in-hand.  After a brief overview of the interplay between technology and arbitration in general, this post focuses on the position in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).  It…

ADGM, UAE

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

The 2015 Arbitration Regulations of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (“ADGM”), the Abu Dhabi-based financial free zone, (the “2015 ADGM Arbitration Regulations”) (consolidated text The Amendment focuses on a number of areas to enhance the efficient operation of the 2015 ADGM Arbitration Regulations, including in particular a clarification of the scope of an arbitration agreement…

Abu Dhabi, Arbitrability, Commercial Agency, National Courts, UAE

(Al Owais Advocates & Legal Consultants)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Australia, COVID-19, Force majeure, Korea, UAE, UK

, (Herbert Smith Freehills LLP)/ /Leave a comment

As countries continue to grapple with the ongoing effects of COVID-19, the effects of the ongoing waves on parties vary widely. There have been recent discussions on force majeure and international arbitration on the Blog: see here, here, and here. This article will address the following points in relation to four key jurisdictions, being the…

Cost allocation mechanisms, Costs in arbitral proceedings, DIAC, UAE, UAE Federal Arbitration Law

(Al Owais Advocates & Legal Consultants)/ /Leave a comment

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…

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…