In late February 2018, the United Arab Emirates’ advisory parliament, the Federal National Council, announced the approval of a draft federal arbitration law. The move was immediately lauded as an important step that could bolster the UAE’s position as the pre-eminent jurisdiction for commercial arbitration in the region, as well as a key jurisdiction for commercial arbitration globally.
While the UAE has grown to become a global business hub and the regional headquarters of many of the leading international companies, it lacks a comprehensive legislative framework for arbitration, a fast-growing method of settling disputes out of court. “The current provisions in the Civil Procedure Law dealing with arbitration date back to the early 1990s, and are very limited in scope. On any view, they do not constitute a modern and comprehensive arbitration law,” says Raza Mithani, a partner in commercial dispute resolution at law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner.