UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Mohammed Alsuwaidi, Ali Alraeesi, Rajiv Suri and Merline Dsouza, Alsuwaidi & Company
Tier 2 – enforcement Once an arbitral award is confirmed, it becomes enforceable and can be enforced by the same means as used in Tier 2, described in 3.4 Process of Enforc- ing Foreign Judgments . It is noteworthy that, for the purposes of enforce - ment, Articles 18 and 21 of the UAE Arbitration Law empower the president of the UAE Courts of Appeal to issue orders of interim measures for a UAE-seated onshore arbitration, upon the request of a party or the arbitral tribunal. Process for Enforcing Foreign Arbitral Awards The process entails a two-tiered procedure, as described below. Tier 1 – recognition A party seeking the enforcement of a foreign arbitral award before an onshore court must obtain an exe - cution order in the same manner as stated for Tier 1 in 3.4 Process of Enforcing Foreign Judgments . The court will issue its decision on an ex parte basis within three days from the date of the submission of the petition. The execution order may only be issued if the con - ditions required for the enforceability of the foreign arbitral award stated in Articles IV and V of the New York Convention are fulfilled. The execution judge’s order of execution remains sub - ject to the usual channels of appeal, as noted for Tier 1 in 3.4 Process of Enforcing Foreign Judgments . Tier 2 – enforcement After obtaining the exequatur referred to in Tier 1 above, the creditor shall rely on the Civil Procedure Code in the same way as explained in 3.4 Process of Enforcing Foreign Judgments . The parties have two possible channels to chal - lenge the enforcement procedures and to seek a stay pending the outcomes of the challenge, depending on the grounds of the challenge (see 2.5 Challenging Enforcement of Domestic Judgments ).
ment et de Valorisation SA (OTV) v Hilmarton Ltd (Com Ct, NLD, 8 June 1999, [1999] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 223). Offshore Courts In both the DIFC and ADGM Courts, an arbitral award will not be enforced if: • a party to the arbitration agreement lacked capac - ity; • the arbitration agreement is not valid under the applicable law; • the party against whom the award is invoked was not given proper notice of the appointment of an arbitrator or of the proceedings, or was otherwise unable to present its case; • the award decides on matters not falling within the terms of reference or exceeding their scope – how - ever, if those matters can be separated from those on which the tribunal had the authority to rule, only the portion of the award addressing issues on mat - ters not submitted to arbitration may be set aside; • the composition of the tribunal or the procedure was not in accordance with the parties’ agreement or, in the absence of such an agreement, with the applicable law; • the subject matter of the difference is not capa - ble of settlement by arbitration under the DIFC or ADGM laws; or • the recognition or enforcement of the award would be contrary to the public policy of the UAE. 4.4 Process of Enforcing Arbitral Awards Process for Enforcing Domestic Arbitral Awards Before Onshore Courts The process entails a two-tiered procedure, as described below. Tier 1 – confirmation Firstly, the award is to be confirmed by the competent Court of Appeal in whose jurisdiction the arbitration was conducted by following the procedure of confir - mation set forth in Article 55 of the UAE Arbitration Law. The award creditor will then obtain an execu - tion order (ie, exequatur) to forcibly enforce the award against the debtor.
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