We are delighted to share with you the latest issue of the publication from the Herbert Smith Freehills Global Arbitration Practice, Inside Arbitration. In addition to sharing knowledge and insights about the markets and industries in which our clients operate,… Read more

On 27 November 2017, Ministerial Resolution No. 972 of 2017 (the "2017 Regulations") of the Executive Regulations to the Federal Legal Profession Law No. 23 of 1991 came into force, replacing the previous Regulations issued in 1997. The effect of… Read more

We recently reported on three decisions of the Judicial Tribunal (please click here) following our commentary on the Judicial Tribunal's controversial first decision in Daman v Oger and the effect on the Banyan Tree jurisdiction (click here). We concluded that,… Read more

Last week, the Dubai International Financial Centre Court issued its decision in Pearl Petroleum Company Limited & Others v The Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq. The Court upheld its earlier decision which recognised two LCIA arbitration awards totalling US$2 billion… Read more

The ICC has announced that it will be opening a representative office in the United Arab Emirates to service the Middle East and North Africa region.  The office aims to be open by early 2018 in the new arbitration hearing… Read more

Laurence Franc-Menget, Avocat à la Cour and Of Counsel in Herbert Smith Freehills' Paris office, has published an article in the International Business Law Journal, examining the impact of the Arab Spring on international arbitration. The article considers a tentative… Read more

Introduction The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, issued Law No 2 of 2017 on 16 February 2017 (the "New Arbitration Law"). The New Arbitration Law has not yet been published in the Official Gazette and implementing… Read more

Following on from our reporting on the controversial first decision of the Judicial Tribunal in Daman Real Capital Partners Company LLC v. Oger Dubai LLC, Cassation No. 1 of 2016 (JT) (click here), there has been significant commentary on the… Read more

The last 12 months have seen a number of important developments in arbitration practice in the Middle East, some comforting to the arbitration community, some controversial. Here, we present a summary of the key themes from 2016, and give our… Read more

Introduction Dubai promotes itself as an arbitration-friendly jurisdiction, in line with its objective of attracting international business. A recent, much-publicised change to the UAE Federal Penal Code which introduces potential criminal sanctions for arbitrators, threatened to undermine this reputation. It… Read more

Dubai Arbitration Week is underway with an extensive programme of events. The CIArb Seminar opened proceedings on 13 November including a keynote address by Vincent Moran QC of Keating Chambers on "Turbulent and troublesome tribunals and the appearance of bias"… Read more

Following changes brought in by a number of other arbitral institutions including the DIFC-LCIA Arbitration Centre, the Dubai International Arbitration Centre is to amend its Arbitration Rules to bring them in line with modern arbitration practice and to ensure its… Read more

In the past, Qatar's application of the New York Convention has been somewhat unpredictable. A recent decision of the Qatari Court of Cassation suggests that Qatar is moving towards overcoming the perception that it is an arbitration-unfriendly jurisdiction. Qatar's status… Read more

The DIFC-LCIA Arbitration Centre has issued its new rules which will apply to all arbitrations commencing on or after 1 October 2016. The key changes are discussed below. ... Read more

The Dubai International Arbitration Centre (“DIAC”) is now implementing its new strategy, designed to develop its international presence and dispel any notion that it is an 'onshore' only institution. On 27 September 2016, DIAC, arguably the leading arbitration centre based… Read more

It has long been believed that an arbitration clause in a contract could not be enforced against a UAE company unless the person signing the contract had specific authority to bind the company to arbitration, and not simply authority to enter into the contract.… Read more

Following on from our previous post on the enactment of the Abu Dhabi Global Market Arbitration Regulations 2015 and the creation of a new seat of arbitration in the Middle East, the Courts of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (“ADGM”) have… Read more

The Abu Dhabi Global Market ("ADGM"), a financial freezone in the United Arab Emirates, has enacted new arbitration regulations based on the UNCITRAL Model Law to create a new "pro-arbitration" seat in the Middle East. The ADGM Arbitration Regulations 2015… Read more

Dubai’s Court of Cassation dismisses Meydan Group’s claim against Doug Jones, Humphrey Lloyd QC and Stephen Furst QC who were acting as arbitrators in a dispute between Meydan Group and WCT Holding. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Dubai in… Read more

The ICSID Convention entered into force in Iraq on 17 December 2015.  This comes after Iraq signed the ICSID Convention and deposited its instrument of ratification on 17 November 2015 to become the Convention's 160th signatory State. Craig Tevendale, Craig Shepherd… Read more

Yemen is currently suffering severe political, military and economic instability. The humanitarian impact of the conflict in Yemen is considerable and the vast majority of the Yemeni people have been left without full access to basic services and commodities.  The… Read more

In its recent judgment of 20 November 2015, the High Court of England and Wales (the "Court") enforced a US$100m peremptory order made in arbitral proceedings against the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq. The judgment considers a number of interesting… Read more

Herbert Smith Freehills is pleased to announce the launch of The Global Pound Conference (GPC) Series 2016-17. The aim of this ambitious worldwide conference series is to build a global conversation about the current landscape of civil and commercial dispute resolution and how… Read more

Craig Shepherd and Mike McClure from the HSF office in Dubai have co-edited a TDM (Transnational Dispute Management) Special entitled “Arbitration in the Middle East – expectations and challenges for the future”, that was published today.  The Special considers a… Read more

In Banyan Tree v Meydan Group LLC (Case CA-005-2-14), the DIFC Court of Appeal has confirmed its jurisdiction to recognise and enforce arbitral awards rendered outside the DIFC even when neither party is based or has assets in the DIFC.… Read more

The Islamic Republic of Iran has won its first ever investor-state arbitration in a decision against Turkish mobile phone company, Turkcell. The tribunal concluded that Turkcell was not a qualified investor under the Iran-Turkey bilateral investment treaty (BIT) given that… Read more

Tuesday 21 October 2014, London, Dubai, Tokyo 9.30 - 10.30am BST 12.30 - 1.30pm GST 5.30 - 6.30pm JST As the turmoil in Iraq shows no sign of abating, our panel of expert speakers draw from their own experience in… Read more

Craig Shepherd and Mike McClure from the HSF office in Dubai are co-editing a TDM (Transnational Dispute Management) Special entitled "Arbitration in the Middle East - expectations and challenges for the future". The volume of international business either in the… Read more

Herbert Smith Freehills has published its Sanctions Update e-bulletin on recent developments in the sanctions regime against Iran. On 21 July 2014, it was announced that the six month suspension of EU and US sanctions against Iran as part of… Read more

Herbert Smith Freehills has published its latest Sanctions Update e-bulletin, on the latest developments in sanctions regimes in Ukraine, Libya, Central African Republic and Syria. Both the EU and US have introduced limited additional sanctions in light of the current situation… Read more