A time for Dubai’s arbitration centres to shine?

Henry Quinlan asks if the explosion of construction disputes has presented Dubai's arbitration centres with an opportunity to demonstrate their efficiency.

One of the key issues, which foreign investors and companies investigate, when deciding whether to invest or expand into a particular jurisdiction, is access to a trusted mechanism for dispute resolution.

The prevalence of infrastructure and other construction projects in Dubai and the Middle East, has meant that many such risk assessments have been made by companies specialising in construction and project work, where the standard forms of contract (such as Fidic) usually provide for arbitration as the dispute resolution mechanism.

In recognition of the importance of the availability of effective legal remedies to investors and contractors, most countries in the region have developed legal frameworks and institutions based on tried and tested international dispute resolution models. Steps include accession to international conventions (such as the New York and ICSID conventions), the establishment of specialist commercial judiciaries (such as is in Abu Dhabi) and the development of new arbitration legislation and institutions.

Dubai is at the cutting edge of such developments, and has reaped rich rewards as a result of the steps it has taken to encourage investment. Dubai last year received more foreign direct investment than any other city in the world. One only has to read the advertising boards around Dubai's many construction sites to see that it has been successful in attracting project companies from across the globe.

Partly as a result of its own success, the global downturn has hit Dubai hard, though it remains to be seen how long the credit crunch can keep down what is still a fast-growing and ambitious city.

The downturn has, however, left a legacy of disputes, in particular involving companies in the construction sector, as falling property values and the lock-up in liquidity have put developers and contractors alike under pressure. The main beneficiary of the explosion in arbitration is the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (Diac), which has reported having received upwards of 180 requests for arbitration so far this year, (80% of which are reported to be construction-related) involving claims totalling in the region of US $5 billion (AED18.4 billion).

This was a reward for Diac's revision of its arbitration rules and relaunch in 2007, which resulted in it's arbitration clauses being incorporated into a number of projects with domestic and international parties.

While there will of course be initial difficulties in dealing with such a dramatic increase in caseload, Diac now has a unique opportunity to demonstrate in practice that arbitration within the region can be an effective alternative both to court proceedings and to arbitration in the traditional centres such as London and Paris, where both the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) have reported an increase in Middle Eastern arbitrations this year. This suggests that many companies involved in projects here, still insist that disputes arising from projects in the region are resolved outside.

One drawback the UAE presently faces over other arbitral venues is the lack of a comprehensive arbitration law.

Although Dubai has taken great strides in developing its legal frameworks, institutions are now facing a key test as the wave of construction disputes in the region come before them. Those institutions will need to deliver, both in respect of the speed and efficiency of the dispute resolution processes being offered in the region, and also in the effectiveness and enforceability of the judgments or arbitral awards obtained as a result of those processes, if Dubai is to fulfil its ambition of becoming a globally recognised centre for dispute resolution.

Henry Quinlan is a dispute resolution lawyer for Norton Rose Middle East and specialises in international arbitration. He has also handled a number of domestic and cross-border commercial disputes resolved by litigation, expert determination and mediation.

The opinions expressed in this column are of the author and not of the publisher.

Print | Email | Discuss this article

| Share |

READERS' COMMENTS

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Arabian Business would like to point out that only comments relevant to the story will be published. Any containing personal insults or inappropriate language will not be approved.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Enter the words above *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM