UAE

Africa, Arbitration, Arbitration Agreement, Arbitration clause, Arbitration institution, Dubai, UAE, UAE Federal Arbitration Law, UNCITRAL Model Law, United Arab Emirates

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Since the inaugural programme in 2014, arbitration practitioners from the MENA region and beyond have come together to share and discuss recent developments in the field of international arbitration during the Dubai Arbitration Week, an annual event that takes place in November. Dubai Arbitration Week 2018 was no exception. It was full of seminars, conferences,…

Criminal law and arbitration, Expert evidence, Experts, Party appointed arbitrator, party-appointed, UAE

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With 2018 drawing to a close, the UAE legislature has ushered in a long-awaited amendment to Art. 257 of the UAE Penal Code (see Decree issuing Federal Law No. (24) of 2018 amending certain provisions of the Federal Law no. (3) of 1987 issuing the Penal Code). Readers of Kluwer Blog will remember that that…

Enforcement, Ethics, ICC, Saudi Arabia, UAE

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Introduction On 8 October 2018, the Ministry of Justice (the “MoJ”) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (“Saudi Arabia”) announced that in the last 12 months its enforcement courts received a record-breaking 257 applications for enforcement of judgments and arbitral awards rendered outside Saudi Arabia, which were appraised at SAR 3.6 billion or “nearly one…

Confidentiality, Enforcement, Interim measures, Jurisdiction, UAE, UAE Federal Arbitration Law, UNCITRAL Model Law, United Arab Emirates

(Al Tamimi & Company)/ /2 Comments

Arbitration in the UAE is governed by the Federal Arbitration Law No. 6 of 2018 (“UAE Arbitration Law”). The UAE Arbitration Law, which entered into force in June 2018, repealed Articles 203 to 218 of the UAE Civil Procedures Law No. 11 of 1992 (“CPC”), which previously governed arbitration in the UAE. Unlike the former…

Arab World, Arbitral Tribunal, UAE, United Arab Emirates

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On May 3rd, the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed Federal Law No. 6 of 2018 (‘Law’) – the nation’s first federal arbitration legislation. According to the Federal National Council, this law has been formulated with the objective of maintaining and encouraging inflow of investments, and to comply with the UAE Vision 2021….

onshore arbitration, UAE, UAE arbitration chapter, UAE Federal Arbitration Law

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The adoption of the UAE Federal Arbitration Law  has kept the specialist arbitration profession in the waiting for the better part of a decade. It was finally adopted earlier this week, to the great acclaim of the local and international arbitration community. The new Law, Law No. 6 of 2018, will apply within 30 days…

Advocacy, Dubai, UAE

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At the dawn of the New Year, foreign arbitration specialists will welcome some reassurance to the effect that the amendments made to the UAE Advocacy Law, also known as Federal Law No. (23) of 1991 on the Regulation of the Legal Profession, in November 2017 (see Ministerial Resolution No. (972) of 2017 on the Executive…

Arbitrators, DIAC, Independence and Impartiality, UAE

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Arbitrators have an overarching duty to act fairly and impartially. This is a fundamental aspect of arbitration that arises out of one of the key advantages of the arbitration process, that is, the parties’ abilities to select the tribunal or arbitrator. This duty is commonly enshrined in arbitration laws and institution rules. For example, Article…

UAE, Uncategorized

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When implemented and understood properly by all players involved, international commercial arbitration should run like a well-oiled machine. Jurisdictions such as France, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Switzerland understand this – from the legislature, to the courts, to the practitioners and parties involved.  Many other jurisdictions, such as the United States, Singapore and Hong Kong…

UAE

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In a sequence of recent rulings starting in 2015, the Dubai Courts have confirmed that the doctrine of apparent authority does, after all, find application to the formation of arbitration agreements. The former prevailing position was that apparent authority did not have a place in arbitration, which requires a special – rather than just a…

UAE

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With the beginning of a new year, it is time for a look at arbitration developments in the UAE that have gone unnoticed (or at least unreported) over the course of 2016. As the readership of this Blog will be aware, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have developed into one of the most fecund arbitration…

Abu Dhabi, DIFC, Dubai, UAE

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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…

Enforcement, Foreign arbitral awards, MENA, New York Convention, UAE, UK

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To investors’ relief, in a recent ruling (see Case No. 384/2016, ruling of the Dubai Court of Cassation of 19 June 2016), the Dubai Court of Cassation reversed the lower court’s refusal to enforce an award rendered under the Rules of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in London, England, on the basis…

Abu Dhabi, UAE

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In a somewhat surprising move, the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, the government authority responsible for judicial matters in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Courts entered into a Memorandum of Understanding concerning cooperation in legal and judicial matters dated 19 April 2016 . This, at least, is the position,…

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

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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…

England, ICC Rules, MENA, New York Convention, Public Policy, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award, UAE

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In a recent enforcement action of a foreign arbitral award rendered under the ICC Rules in London, England, the Dubai Court of Appeal questioned the United Kingdom’s proper membership of the 1958 New York Convention (on the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards) (the “NYC” or simply the “Convention”). The action was brought by…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitral seat, Arbitration Agreements, DIFC, Dubai, UAE

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In a ruling of earlier this month (see CFI 017/2015 – Emirates NBD Bank PJSC v. Infospan Gulf Inc., ruling of the DIFC Court of First Instance of 3rd April 2016) H.E. Justice Ali Al Madhani, one of the UAE-national resident judges of the DIFC Courts, sitting in the DIFC Court of First Instance, found…

Damages, Dubai, MENA, Tort, UAE, United Arab Emirates

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /2 Comments

Two recent Dubai Court of Cassation cases shed light on the question of the liability of arbitrators in the UAE (see Case No. 212/2014 – Meydan Group LLC v. Alexis Mourre, ruling of the Dubai Court of Cassation of 8 October 2015; and Case No. 284/2015 – Meydan Group LLC v. Doug Jones, Humphrey Lloyd…

Ad hoc arbitration, Arbitral seat, DIFC, English Law, MENA, UAE

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In a blog earlier this year (see here), I reported on the emergence of the Abu Dhabi Global Market, in shorthand ADGM, as a free zone seat of arbitration in its own right, offering a viable alternative to seating an arbitration in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). To recap, choice of the ADGM as…

Arbitral Award, DIFC, Dubai, MENA, Middle East, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award, UAE

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In a recent ruling of the DIFC Court of Appeal (CA 007/2015 – DNB Bank ASA v. (1) Gulf Eyadah Corporation (2) Gulf Navigation Holdings PJSC, ruling of the DIFC Court of Appeal of 25 February 2016), Chief Justice Michael Hwang, Justice Sir David Steel and H.E. Justice Omar Al Muhairi took the opportunity to…

Ad hoc arbitration, Arbitral seat, DIFC, English Law, MENA, UAE

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In a recent long-anticipated move, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi has finally expanded its own arbitration offering by adding a further arbitration facility in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). More specifically, on 17 December 2015, the Board of Directors of the ADGM enacted the so-called ADGM Arbitration Regulations 2015, following an initial consultation process,…

BIT, Costs in arbitral proceedings, Customary international law, Expropriation, Fair and Equitable Treatment, Free Trade Agreements, ICSID Arbitration, ICSID Convention, Investment Arbitration, Middle East, Treaty Interpretation, UAE, United States

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This is Part II of a previous blog, discussing a recent Award dated 27 October 2015 rendered in ICSID Case No. ARB/11/33 – Adel A Hamadi Al Tamimi v. Sultanate of Oman and dismissing all claims against Oman (see Part I of the blog). By way of reminder, the claims brought in these ICSID proceedings…

Attribution, BIT, Costs in arbitral proceedings, Customary international law, Expropriation, Fair and Equitable Treatment, Free Trade Agreements, ICSID Arbitration, ICSID Convention, ILC Articles on State Responsibility, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, Middle East, State Agency, UAE

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By a Final Award dated 27 October 2015 (see ICSID Case No. ARB/11/33 – Adel A Hamadi Al Tamimi v. Sultanate of Oman), an international tribunal constituted under the International Convention for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), also commonly referred to as the Washington Convention, dismissed all claims brought by a US national against the…

DIFC, Dubai, LCIA Rules, UAE

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Following a recent announcement of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) (see https://www.lcia.org//News/difc-lcia-arbitration-centre-relaunched-today.aspx), its Dubai-based sister organisation, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC)-LCIA Arbitration Centre, re-launched its operations from a new location in the DIFC with effect from 18 November 2015. The move to the DIFC Gate Building, which has become an iconic landmark…