EGYPT Law and Practice Contributed by: Mohamed Osama, Hana Elbarbary and Hamza Shehata, Shehata & Partners
• labour and employment disputes arising with respect to the application of the provisions of the Labour Law are considered non-arbi- trable. The Cairo Court of Appeal, however, elaborated in 2017 that if the dispute per- tained to additional incentives of the employ- ee, then the dispute would be arbitrable; • tax and social insurance disputes are usu- ally perceived as relating to public policy and thus are non-arbitrable. However, the Cairo Court of Appeal considered in 2004 that tax and insurance disputes in which administra- tive authorities are a party cannot be referred to arbitration while those disputes between private persons can in fact be arbitrable; • competition and antitrust disputes have been considered arbitrable by the Cairo Court of Appeal since 2016; • corporate disputes are considered by the Cairo Court of Appeal of 2010 as matters not pertaining to public policy and therefore, arbitrable; and • intellectual property disputes require a subtle distinction. Those disputes with respect to determining whether a patent should be issued or not or has been issued validly would not be arbitrable. On the other hand, a dispute concerning a compensation claim arising out of violating patents or trade marks could still be arbitrable. 13.3 Circumstances to Challenge an Arbitral Award The challenge of an arbitral award is regulated by Chapter VI of the EAL which provides an exhaustive list of reasons for which a party may request to annul the arbitral award, as follows: • if there is no arbitration agreement, if it was void, voidable, or expired; • if either party to the arbitration agreement was at the time of the conclusion of the arbi-
tration agreement fully or partially incapaci- tated according to the law governing its legal capacity; • if either party to the arbitration was unable to present its case as a result of not being given proper notice of the appointment of an arbitrator or of the arbitral proceedings, or for any other reason beyond its control; • if the arbitral award failed to apply the law agreed upon by the parties to govern the sub- ject matter in dispute; • if the composition of the arbitral tribunal or the appointment of the arbitrators was done in contradiction to the Arbitration Law or the parties’ agreement; • if the arbitral award dealt with matters not falling within the scope of the arbitration agreement or exceeding the limits of this agreement. However, in the case where mat- ters falling within the scope of the arbitration can be separated from the part of the award which contains matters not included within the scope of the arbitration, the nullity affects exclusively the latter parts only; • if the arbitral award itself or the arbitration procedures affecting the award contain a legal violation that causes nullity; and • furthermore, the court adjudicating the annul- ment may decide on its own to annul the award if the content of the arbitral award is contrary to Egypt’s public policy. A challenge of the arbitral award shall be made within a period of 90 days from the notification of the award to the losing party. It should be noted that in principle, a request for annulment is not an obstacle to the enforcement proceedings. 13.4 Procedure for Enforcing Domestic and Foreign Arbitration The enforcement of arbitral awards in Egypt is governed by Chapter VII of the EAL as well as
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