UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Antonios Dimitracopoulos and Martin Khoshdel, BSA Law
The onshore UAE courts are not limited in any way by the Federal Arbitration Law ‒ although the court may, if requested by any of the parties, request any arbitral entity in the UAE to provide it with a list of specialised individuals in arbitration. 4.4 Challenge and Removal of Arbitrators Pursuant to Article 14 of the Federal Arbitration Law, an arbitrator may be disqualified if the circumstances give rise to serious doubts regarding impartiality or independence or if the conditions for the appointment of arbitrators have not been met, which includes any requirements agreed to by the parties under Article 10 of the Federal Arbitration Law. Section 20 of the ADGM Arbitration Regulations and Article 18 of the DIFC Arbitration Law contain similar provisions. 4.5 Arbitrator Requirements The arbitration legislation has been reviewed in 4.4 Challenge and Removal of Arbitrators in relation to the requirements of independence or impartiality. The DIAC Rules 2022 contain certain requirements under Article 14. Arbitrators are required to sign a declaration of impartiality and independence, avail - ability of time, and nationality (including an up-to-date CV). By accepting an appointment, arbitrators under - take a continuing duty to disclose any circumstances that may call into question or give rise to reasonable doubts as to their impartiality, independence and/or availability. If any disclosure is made, then this will be communicated to the parties and other tribunal members. The DIAC Arbitration Court has the discretion to refuse an appointment if it considers that the arbitrator lacks independence, impartiality or availability or is other - wise unsuitable.
is invalid, or does not cover the subject matter of the dispute. Article 23 of the DIFC Arbitration Law provides that the arbitral tribunal may rule on its own jurisdiction, including objections as to the existence or validity of the arbitration agreement. Section 25 of the ADGM Arbitration Regulations per - mits the arbitral tribunal to rule on its own substantive jurisdiction as to whether there is a valid arbitration agreement, whether the tribunal is properly consti - tuted, and whether the arbitration agreement covers the matters submitted to arbitration. 5.2 Circumstances for Court Intervention Under Article 11 of the DIFC Arbitration Law, the DIFC court may perform the functions contained within Arti - cle 23 (3), which deals with jurisdiction. Pursuant to Article 23 (3) of the DIFC Arbitration Law, jurisdiction may be dealt with as a preliminary question or in an award on the merits. If the arbitral tribunal determines as a preliminary matter that it has jurisdiction, then any party may request that the DIFC court decide the matter. Under Section 27 of the ADGM Arbitration Regula - tions, the ADGM court may determine the question of jurisdiction if the tribunal has accepted jurisdiction. Article 19 (2) of the Federal Arbitration Law allows a party to request the court to determine jurisdiction where the arbitral tribunal has determined jurisdiction. Strict time limits apply pursuant to the law. The consideration of jurisdiction by the courts is there - fore limited to circumstances where the tribunal has accepted jurisdiction. The courts of the UAE are generally supportive of arbitration if the relevant conditions precedent to arbitration have been substantially met or where the parties have clearly agreed to arbitrate their disputes. The slight disparity between the local courts and the common-law courts is in relation to jurisdiction clauses that are referenced in other documents and their incorporation, with the local courts taking the view that arbitration is the exception and therefore
5. Jurisdiction 5.1 Challenges to Jurisdiction
Under Article 19 of the Federal Arbitration Law, the arbitral tribunal is permitted to determine any applica - tion pertaining to the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, including whether the arbitration agreement exists, or
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