EGYPT Law and Practice Contributed by: Muhammad Ussama and Adam El Shalakany, Shalakany Law Office
3.8 Court Powers In essence, Egyptian courts’ key powers to support arbitration comprise of: • the power to compel parties to honour their valid arbitration agreement (by declaring inadmissi- ble claims that are filed in front of the judiciary in breach of an existing, valid arbitration agreement); • the power to hear and decide on applications for interim relief that are submitted prior to the full composition of the arbitration tribunal hearing a given arbitration case; • rejecting unsubstantiated nullity actions of arbitral awards; and • the prompt processing of applications seeking the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards in Egypt. 3.9 Court Intervention An Egyptian court would intervene in an arbitration in situations including one where the arbitration agree- ment is null and void and, thus, the legal basis for valid arbitration proceedings is missing. Further, Egyptian courts have the power and jurisdiction to hear and decide on nullity actions of arbitral awards, provided that the arbitration is seated in Egypt or the arbitration proceedings, despite taking place outside of Egypt, are subjected, by virtue of the parties’ agreement, to the Egyptian Arbitration Law. Egyptian courts could also intervene if, for example, if a disputing party resorts to court seeking the recusal of an appointed arbitrator on the basis of a substantiated argument; the court’s intervention takes the form of recusing the relevant arbitrator and, thus, forcing a correction of the proceedings. 3.10 Relief Akin to the court’s power to issue interim relief, arbitral tribunals have the power to grant interim relief if the applicant is successful in proving (i) urgency, (ii) a like- lihood to succeed on the merits, and (iii) the granting of the sought-after interim relief would not impact the merits and does not require an examination of any- thing but the surface of the available evidence. There are no restrictions on an arbitral tribunal’s power to grant interim relief. However, even if granted, the party in whose favour interim relief is ordered would
ment of tribunal-appointed experts if a need to do so arises. The choice of arbitrators themselves sitting on the tribunal is frequently influenced by the sector within which the dispute arises as well as the nature
and level of complexity of the dispute. 3.4 Disadvantages of Arbitration
The main disadvantages of the use of arbitration in Egypt, as well as in the GCC area, are costs and time. Clients frequently complain about the high level of costs involved in arbitrations (especially those lasting for long durations and involving highly technical issues of substance/merits). Clients also frequently complain about the lengthy nature of arbitration proceedings. These, among other potential disadvantages, play a key role in guiding the disputing parties’ approach and strategy in pursuing or defending a claim, as well as in the choice of forum (if such a choice exists). 3.5 Arbitral Institutions In Egypt, the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration is the only real choice avail- able to parties wishing to resort to an arbitration institution with a considerable level of reputation and experience managing cases, as well as an institution that has a physical presence within the country. Par- ties are becoming more open to considering arbitra- tion institutions in the UAE as an alternative to Egypt. 3.6 Length of Proceedings Depending on the level of complexity of the underly- ing dispute, arbitration proceedings can vary in length between eight months and 24 months, considering that the period starts running from the date on which the composition of the arbitral tribunal is complete. 3.7 Regulation of Arbitration In Egypt, the Egyptian Arbitration Law No 27 of 1994 (as amended) is the key piece of legislation concern- ing arbitration. It applies equally to national/local arbi- trations and international commercial arbitrations. In addition to the Egyptian Arbitration Law, there exist some scattered statutory provisions in various Egyp- tian laws that touch upon and regulate certain issues that are of relevance to arbitration and arbitration practitioners.
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