EGYPT Law and Practice Contributed by: Ahmed Kotb, Mohamed Ehab, Mohamed Sameh and Yasmine ElSakka, Khodeir & Partners
Distinctly, arbitration disputes involving public enti - ties or governmental authorities, especially those concerning public law or administrative contracts, fall within the jurisdiction of the High Administrative Court. The administrative judiciary, including the State Council and its affiliated courts, handles arbitration in the public law context. The High Administrative Court serves as the final judicial authority in administrative arbitration matters, providing a separate judicial ave - nue tailored to the specificities of disputes involving government entities. Arbitration in Egypt is governed by the EAL, which replaced the arbitration provisions previously con - tained in the Egyptian Code of Civil and Commercial Procedures. The EAL is based on the Model Law but diverges in several important respects. It applies to both domes - tic and international arbitrations (Article 1) and may extend extraterritorially to arbitrations seated abroad if the parties agree to apply Egyptian arbitration law. A notable local adaptation concerns arbitration agree - ments in administrative contracts involving public entities, which require prior approval by the compe - tent minister or designated authority without delega - tion, reflecting Egypt’s regulatory framework for public law contracts. 2. Governing Legislation 2.1 Governing Law The EAL introduces detailed criteria to determine the international character of an arbitration, such as institutional arbitration, the parties’ principal places of business, and the location of performance or clos - est connection to the dispute (Article 3). The law also imposes a stricter writing requirement for arbitration agreements than the Model Law, mandating a signed document or an exchange of written communications (Article 12), while implicitly permitting electronic com - munications if they satisfy this requirement. Unlike the Model Law’s “referral exception”, the EAL excludes court jurisdiction to rule on the validity of arbitration agreements before the tribunal has issued an award (Article 13), although some Egyptian courts have nev - ertheless examined validity issues in practice. The EAL
requires an odd number of arbitrators under penalty of award nullity (Article 15) and sets a higher threshold for challenging arbitrators, limiting challenges to seri - ous doubts about impartiality or independence (Article 18). Preliminary jurisdictional rulings by tribunals can - not be challenged before courts until the final award is rendered (Article 22). Unlike the Model Law, the EAL does not grant tribunals default authority to order interim relief; such powers must be conferred by the parties’ agreement (Article 24). The default arbitration language is Arabic unless otherwise agreed (Article 29). In the absence of an agreement on applicable law, tribunals may apply the law with the closest con - nection to the dispute (Article 39). The EAL adds an annulment ground not found in the Model Law – non- application of the lex causae chosen by the parties (Article 53) – and for enforcement purposes, requires that the award not contradict any prior Egyptian court judgment on the merits (Article 58). Egyptian compe - tent courts play a pivotal supervisory role, ensuring consistent interpretation and application of the arbi - tration framework. Overall, the EAL balances align - ment with international best practices and the Model Law with adaptations reflecting Egypt’s legal culture and administrative realities, offering a comprehensive and investor-friendly arbitration regime. 2.2 Changes to National Law In March 2022, the Deputy Minister of Justice for Arbitration and International Disputes issued Decree No. 8 of 2022, establishing a specialised committee composed of Ministry of Justice officials, arbitration practitioners, academics and legal experts to review the EAL and propose amendments. This committee was tasked with preparing a comprehensive legisla - tive reform proposal for submission to the Minister of Justice. On 19 May 2025, the Egyptian Council of Senate reviewed the committee’s report and com - menced discussions on proposed amendments aimed at modernising Egypt’s arbitration framework to better align with international best practices and improve the investment climate. Among the most notable proposed changes is the revision of Article 3 to clarify the definition of “international arbitration”. The amendment would establish that the existence of any one of several criteria – such as parties having places of business in different countries, resorting to a permanent arbitration institution such as CRCICA, or
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