EGYPT Law and Practice Contributed by: Mohamed Osama, Hana Elbarbary and Hamza Shehata, Shehata & Partners
11.3 Interest Awarded on Costs The court does not award interest on the ordered fees. This is except for the case where the judg- ment awarded a compensation (for instance) plus interest until payment is completed. In this case, the awarded amount of compensation will increase with the delay in payment by the debtor (due to the incurred interest). Since the judicial fees are determined based on the awarded com- pensation, supplementary fees will be imposed based on the interest incurred on the original debt. 12. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) 12.1 Views of ADR Within the Country ADR is viewed as an effective and common res- olution mechanism in Egypt. It is widely advocat- ed for in the Egyptian jurisdiction whether that be by practice, such as the common inclusion of non-formal amicable negotiation before for- mal dispute settlement in Egyptian contracts, as well as legally requiring prior mediation in some cases as a preliminary step to formal dispute settlement (please refer to 12.2 ADR Within the Legal System ). Although several ADR institutions in Egypt advo- cate for different ADR mechanisms, arbitration remains the only ADR mechanism recognised by a national legislation (Law No 27 of 1994 on Arbi- tration in Civil and Commercial matters, EAL). In that regard, there are a few notable arbitration centres in Egypt that adopt their own arbitration rules, such as: The Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA) and The Egyptian Centre for Arbitration and Settlement of Non-banking Financial Disputes (ECAS).
On another note, CRCICA issued its first media- tion rules in 1990, which have been revised ever since, and the current version is dated 2013. CRCICA has recently adopted in 2021 Dispute Boards Rules for the settlement of construction disputes. 12.2 ADR Within the Legal System The Egyptian legal system endorses the ADR mechanism. This is evidenced by the wide refer- ral of the disputing parties to ADR committees before resorting to national courts, such as the following examples. The Family Law No 10 of 2004 establishes Fam- ily Disputes Settlement Offices to which the disputing parties should preliminarily resort by virtue of an application (except in some mat- ters), before having their case heard by the Family Courts. These Family Disputes Settle- ment Offices are then in charge of meeting with the disputing parties, hearing their statements, providing them with insight into the possible consequences, and advising them with the aim of facilitating reaching an amicable settlement to preserve the family’s entity. If a proceeding has been otherwise initiated by the disputing parties without preliminarily resorting to these Offices, then the Family Court can either deem the claim as inadmissible or choose to refer the parties to the competent Office. Likewise, the Labour Law No 12 of 2003 provides in some cases the requirement for the employ- er or the employee to resort to the competent Labour Office to amicably settle their disputes. Moreover, the ECL establishes Preparatory and Mediation Committees which shall offer the dis- puting parties the possibility of amicably set- tling their dispute. However, if the parties do not
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