UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Antonios Dimitracopoulos and Martin Khoshdel, BSA Law
1. General 1.1 Prevalence of Arbitration
• Construction – the UAE in general has experienced rapid urban and rural development, with large- scale residential and commercial projects. The specialist nature of construction projects inevitably favours the use of experienced individuals and expert witnesses to resolve disputes, making con - struction disputes more suited to arbitration than court litigation. • Energy and natural resources – there has been a lot of foreign investment in the energy sector of the UAE, as well as in the region more generally. This has resulted in foreign companies preferring the use of international arbitration as a system of dispute resolution more familiar to them. • Corporate disputes – similarly, given the number of foreign investors and shareholders, the use of international arbitration as a dispute resolution mechanism is still the preferred method, particu - larly with common-law seats such as the DIFC and the ADGM. 1.3 Arbitration Institutions The most common institutions used for international arbitration in the UAE are the DIAC (based in Dubai) and the ICC (based in Abu Dhabi). These two institu - tions are the longest-serving institutions in the UAE and boast the use of some of the most reputable arbitrators available. The abolition of the DIFC-LCIA in 2021 also meant that arbitrations resorting to the DIFC-LCIA rules will now be administered by the DIAC, thereby increasing its caseload. In early 2024, the Abu Dhabi Commercial Concilia - tion Arbitration Centre was abolished and replaced by ArbitrateAD. Although it was established more than a year ago, it is still too soon to gauge how often it has been used as the parties’ choice of institution when referring matters to arbitration. Parties will need time to understand the offering of ArbitrateAD before inserting ArbitrateAD as the nominated institution into their dispute resolution contracts. 1.4 National Courts All courts in the UAE will be able to hear disputes related to all arbitrations. There are specific commer - cial court divisions within the onshore courts that will hear all matters related to arbitrations ‒ from interim
International arbitration is a well-established and increasingly popular method of dispute resolution in the UAE, particularly for commercial and construction disputes. The UAE has developed a robust legal frame - work for arbitration, highlighted by the enactments of Federal Law No 6 of 2018 (the “Federal Arbitration Law”), Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Law No 1 of 2008 (the “DIFC Arbitration Law”), and the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Arbitration Regulations 2015 (the “ADGM Arbitration Regulations”), as well as its accession to the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958 (the “New York Convention”) in 2006 ‒ the latter allowing the parties the choice of onshore and freezone seats for their arbitrations. Although international arbitration is most commonly used in cross-border transactions, domestic parties in the UAE tend to favour litigation in local courts for smaller or less complex disputes, owing to familiarity with the system and cost considerations. However, in high-value or technically complex sectors such as construction and real estate, even domestic parties may opt for arbitration ‒ especially where confidential - ity and procedural flexibility are important. The prevalence of international arbitration in the UAE is largely due to its reputation for being home to neu - tral centres and seats of arbitration. A further reason is that the UAE is very advanced in its jurisprudence of arbitration law. The UAE also hosts reputable institu - tions such as the DIAC (Dubai International Arbitration Centre), the ICC and ArbitrateAD. The common-law seats of the DIFC and ADGM are particularly popu - lar, given the precedential system of law allowing for greater clarity and predictability in arbitration-related matters, such as the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards and the provision of supportive remedies. 1.2 Key Industries There are a number of industries where international arbitration has experienced significant activity, as fol - lows.
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