UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Gerard Moore, Patricia Ugalde Revilla, Antonin Sobek and Alanood Sinjab, Mayer Brown
3.2 Arbitrability The general approach in the UAE, both onshore and offshore, is that matters pertaining to public policy are not arbitrable. This includes: • criminal matters; • family and personal status matters; and • bankruptcy and insolvency matters. However, the test is different in the relevant jurisdic - tions. Onshore, arbitrability is governed by Article 4 (2) of the UAE Arbitration Law and the concept of “reconcilability” under UAE federal law. In the DIFC and ADGM, arbitrability is determined by reference to the law of the respective freezone, not UAE federal law – and neither the DIFC Arbitration Law nor the ADGM Regulations contain a prescriptive list of non- arbitrable matters, instead leaving the question to be Valid arbitration agreements are usually enforced by courts in the UAE (both onshore and offshore), given the country’s growing reputation as an arbitration- friendly jurisdiction (see 3.1 Enforceability and 5.5 Breach of Arbitration Agreement ). In terms of determining the law governing the arbi - tration agreement, the rules differ depending on the jurisdiction. assessed on a case-by-case basis. 3.3 National Courts’ Approach • Onshore: the UAE Arbitration Law does not contain an express conflict-of-laws rule. The validity of the arbitration agreement is assessed by reference to the law chosen by the parties or, failing that, UAE law. • Offshore (DIFC): the Court of First Instance has ruled that the law of the arbitral seat governs the arbitration agreement, even where the main con - tract is subject to a different governing law ( Oswin v ( 1 ) Otila ( 2 ) Ondray [2025] DIFC ARB 032 (16 September 2025)). • Offshore (ADGM): when assessing the validity of an arbitration agreement in the enforcement context, the ADGM Regulations refer to the law chosen by the parties or, failing that, the law of the ADGM (Section 62 (1)(a)(i)).
Fourth, on 4 August 2025, the Federal and Local Judi - cial Principles Unification Authority issued Decision No (1) of 2025, settling a long-standing conflict on whether an arbitral award must be signed on every page. It established that a signature on the final page suffices, and that the absence of signatures on prior pages does not warrant annulment or non-enforce - ment.
3. The Arbitration Agreement 3.1 Enforceability
Generally, for an arbitration agreement to be enforce - able, it must be made in writing by a natural or legal person with capacity. Otherwise, the arbitration agree - ment will be found to be null and void. There is some nuance, however, as follows. Onshore Article 7 (2) of the UAE Arbitration Law sets out cir - cumstances in which the writing requirement is met, including where the agreement is contained in a docu - ment signed by the parties. Further, Article 4 requires the signatory to have express authority to bind the company to arbitration (see 2.1 Governing Law ). Arti - cle 61 (2) of the UAE Civil Procedure Code (Federal Decree Law No 42 of 2022) additionally provides that an attorney may not submit proceedings to arbitration without special authorisation. Another distinctive feature of onshore UAE arbitration law is the treatment of unilateral (or asymmetric) arbi - tration clauses. In a significant ruling on 29 October 2024, the Dubai Court of Cassation (Case No 735 of 2024 (Commercial)) held that a unilateral option to arbitrate – whereby only one party has the discretion to elect between arbitration and litigation – does not constitute a valid arbitration agreement under UAE law. Offshore The DIFC Arbitration Law and ADGM Arbitration Reg - ulations are flexible on the form – the requirement that an arbitration agreement be in writing is satisfied if the content is recorded in electronic communications if the communication is accessible for subsequent reference.
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