UGANDA Law and Practice Contributed by: Moses J. Adriko SC, Ernest Sembatya Kaggwa, Derrick Kizito Kunyiga and Philip E. Nsaja, MMAKS Advocates
ALN Uganda | MMAKS Advocates 4th Floor, Redstone House Plot 7 Bandali Rise Bugolobi P.O. Box 7166 Kampala Uganda Tel: +256 414-251388/+256 414-249992
Email: info@ug.aln.africa Web: www.mmaks.co.ug
1. General 1.1 Prevalence of Arbitration
and other standard forms containing multi-tiered dispute resolution clauses, and payment, delay and termination disputes are frequent. • Energy and natural resources : The Lake Albert oil and gas development, power purchase and gen - eration agreements, and mining projects involve international sponsors and lenders that insist on arbitration, • Banking and finance : Facility, mezzanine and security-related disputes involving foreign lenders have produced several of the leading recent court decisions on arbitration. • Telecommunications , insurance and commercial real estate : In these sectors, standard-form con - tracts increasingly refer disputes to arbitration. These sectors dominate because they are capital- intensive, involve foreign investors and financiers that require a neutral, confidential and internationally enforceable process, and use international standard- form contracts in which arbitration is the market norm. 1.3 Arbitration Institutions The most used institutions are the following: • ICAMEK : This is a private sector-led, not-for-profit centre established in 2018 and gazetted as an appointing authority under the Arbitration and Con - ciliation Act, 2000 (ACA), by ministerial instrument of 23 April 2019. It administers arbitrations under its own Arbitration Rules (which include emergency arbitrator provisions), maintains arbitrator panels and has a steadily growing caseload, including cross-border matters.
International arbitration is firmly established and growing in Uganda, although litigation before the courts remains the default route for routine domestic disputes. Arbitration is now the standard dispute reso - lution mechanism in high-value commercial contracts, particularly those with a cross-border element, and domestic parties routinely include arbitration clauses in construction, energy, banking, infrastructure and public procurement contracts. The growing use of international arbitration in Uganda as a forum of dispute resolution is attributable to the increased selection of Kampala as a seat of arbitration for domestic and regional parties and the selection of the International Centre for Arbitration and Mediation in Kampala (ICAMEK) as an institution administering arbitrations. Additionally, the pro-arbitration stance adopted by the High Court Commercial Division has led to an increase in applications for enforcement of foreign awards and for interim relief in support of arbitrations seated in other jurisdictions being made before the court. 1.2 Key Industries The industries that have generated the most signifi - cant arbitration activity in recent years are the follow - ing: • Construction and infrastructure : Roads, energy and building projects are commonly let on FIDIC
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