International Arbitration Process: Steps, Rules & What to Expect
Role of arbitration for businesses and individuals with cross-border contractual relations.
International arbitration can be utilised as a means to settle disputes for businesses and individuals with cross-border contractual relationships.
Where a business contract involves companies, investments, deals or obligations extending to across or involving more than a single jurisdiction, a international arbitration lawyer in Dubai can provide options to resolve the issue without involving the courts of multiple countries.
Understanding the Law on Arbitration
UAE Federal Law No. 6 of 2018 is primary legislation governing arbitration proceedings within its scope.
The law contains provisions relating to arbitration agreements, arbitral tribunals, proceedings, evidence, awards and intervention of courts. International arbitration may also be subject to applicable law and legal process of the state that is involved.
International arbitration is a private form of resolving a dispute between two or more parties, with the arbitrator acting as a substitute for the judge and delivering an enforceable ruling.
Understanding International Arbitration
An international arbitration procedure starts with the dispute being filed with an arbitral tribunal. The International arbitration lawyer in Dubai is involved in this stage, and they evaluate the data and evidence presented by the parties and advice on the appropriate course of action.
The jurisdiction may be more than one country, considering the location where the relevant events occurred.
Dispute resolution process can be private or public, irrespective of its nature, the arbitrator is required to apply the relevant laws and make a decision accordingly.
The process is largely defined by the arbitration agreement of the parties. It can be established between the two litigants; it may be a pre-existing one in the original contract or one that has been created after a dispute has arisen.
How to Approach an Arbitrator?
The initial step is to verify whether you have a valid and applicable arbitratin agreement covering the dispute. For instance, some agreements may specify an arbitration body such as the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) in the event of any dispute, whereas others may want to arbitrate under a predetermined contract.
You can assess all these using the expertise of the best lawyers in UAE to get a detailed understanding.
At this step, one should check the arbitration terms to understand the process: the number of arbitrators who are to settle the matter, the location (seat of arbitration), and applicable arbitration rules, and the language of the proceedings.
Once the arbitration agreement has been established, the claimant can commence the arbitratin in accordance with the relevant rules.
To do this, the parties should be aware of the arbitration agreement, seat of arbitration arbitration rules, arbitration body or any designated supervisory authority, the number of arbitrators, proceedings language, and the location of proceedings.
A seat of arbitration is the country through which the arbitration shall be governed. State parties may include wording in their arbitration contracts to determine the number of arbitrators.
Find the Seat of Arbitration
There is also the question of where the seat of the arbitration is legally seated. The seat is a legal concept and should not be confused with the venure or location of a particular hearing.
The seat of arbitration refers to the legal location of the arbitration, which is different from the physical location where hearings take place. Even if hearings are conducted online, the arbitration must still have a legally designated seat.
The seat is important because it determines which country’s procedural laws apply to the arbitration and which courts have the authority to supervise the process and review the arbitration award.
Choosing Dubai or the DIFC as a place of arbitration will have differesnt legal implications, so if, for example, Dubai is the seat of arbitration, Federal Law No. 6 of 2018 shall apply under Decree No. 34 of 2021. However, if the DIFC is the seat of arbitration, then, subject to the decree, the DIFC arbitration law will apply.
This makes careful drafting and review of arbitration clauses extremely important.
Initiating Arbitration
Once the substantive and procedural contractual issues have been addressed, the claimant will be able to commence arbitration in accordance with the procedures set out in the applicable rules.
Arbitration will be commenced by sending appropriate documents to the other party. These documents will normally identify the parties, detail the dispute, provide relevant background to the dispute (often the contractual facts) and state the relief sought by the claimant. Procedures will vary depending on the relevant rules.
The DIAC Procedures Manual and the DIAC Rules are available on the DIAC website. The respondent has an opportunity then to serve a response in accordance with the procedures and timelines.
Conclusion
There are generally several separate but interconnected stages from the arbitration clause (which we may refer to as the contract) through tribunal formation, written process, evidence, hearing, final award and, if needed, enforcement. However, each arbitration is unique.
Different rules, seat, governing law, arbitration clause, and scope of the dispute can considerably change the process. For this reason, businesses should not treat arbitration clauses as standard boilerplate and should always contact the best lawyers to get more information.
Emirates Advocates and Legal Consultants can help you in all stages of international arbitration proceedings, including arbitration strategy, arbitrability and contract clause drafting, arbitration procedures, tribunal, and arbitration awards.
Author’s Bio
The author is an expert in understanding corporate legal matters and has been practising for more than 13 years. He also likes to present informative content that makes his clients and others aware of the legal proceedings.
