United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) acceded to the New York Convention on August, 21, 2006 without making any reservations or declarations.
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) are also bound by the New York Convention by virtue of the fact that they are part of the UAE.
The DIFC is a financial free zone located in the Emirate of Dubai and established in 2004. The DIFC has its own civil, commercial, and arbitration laws, and largely follows the English common law approach. The ADGM is a financial free zone also located in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and established in 2013. Similar to the DIFC, it also has its own civil and commercial laws (including its own Arbitration Regulations). Both zones were established to attract the international business community.
The UAE is a party to the following treaties on the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards: the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States of 1965; the Riyadh Convention on Judicial Cooperation between States of the Arab League of 1983; and the GCC Convention for the Execution of Judgments, Delegations and Judicial Notifications of 1996.
Arbitration in the UAE is governed by the Federal Law No 6 of 2018 (UAE Arbitration Law), which became effective on 16 June 2018. Article 4.2 of the Federal Law states that “arbitration is not permitted in matters which do not permit compromise.” It is worth noting the UAE Arbitration Law is not applicable in DIFC or ADGM as each financial free zone has its own arbitration law.
Arbitration in the DIFC is governed by DIFC Law No. 1 of 2008 (DIFC Arbitration Law). It is also largely based on the UNCITRAL Model Law.
Arbitration in the ADGM is governed by the 2015 Arbitration Regulations (ADGM Arbitration Regulations), which were amended on 23 December 2020. These are also based on the UNCITRAL Model Law but with a number of amendments. The Abu Dhabi Commercial Conciliation and Arbitration Centre (ADCCAC) is located there.
Also, the Emirates Maritime Arbitration Centre (EMAC) was launched in UAE in 2016.
In addition to that, the UAE hosts the International Islamic Centre of Reconciliation and Arbitration which was established to hear cases governed by Sharia, the Islamic law.
The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has a representative office in the ADGM (ICC MENA). The office is located in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), an international financial centre based on Al Maryah Island in the capital of UAE. This new representative office became operational in January 2018 and accepts the registration of arbitration cases under the ICC Rules.
Moreover, the Court of Arbitration for Sport established an Alternative Hearing Centre in Abu Dhabi.
The UAE national courts maintain a conventional approach and it is practical if the arbitral clause is explicitly signed by the parties. Pursuant to Ministerial Resolution No.406/2 of 2003, UAE governmental bodies may not enter into an arbitration agreement without prior approval from the Cabinet of Ministers.
Regarding non-arbitrable disputes, issues pertaining to matters for which conciliation is not possible, are not permitted for submission to arbitration. Non-arbitrable disputes relate to public policy, criminal matters and family matters. Also, commercial agency and distributorship disputes may not be resolved through arbitration. Under the UAE, the DIFC, and the ADGM arbitral regimes, arbitral clauses are considered separate from the main contract and survive termination or invalidation of the main contract. Moreover, article 6.1 of the Federal Law No 6 of 2018 states that “an arbitration clause shall be treated as an agreement independent from the other terms of contract. The nullity, rescission or termination of the contract shall not affect the arbitration clause if it is valid per se, unless the matter relates to incapacity among the Parties.” Article 6.2 of the Federal Law No 6 of 2018 states that “a plea that a contract containing an arbitration clause is null or has been rescinded or
terminated shall not stay the arbitration proceedings and the Arbitral Tribunal may rule on the
validity of such contract.”
According to Article 19.1 of the Federal Law No 6 of 2018 “the Arbitral Tribunal may rule on its own jurisdiction, including any objections with respect to the existence or validity of the Arbitration Agreement or its inclusion of the subject-matter of the dispute. The Arbitral Tribunal shall rule on the plea either as a preliminary question or in a final arbitral award on the merits.”
Article 52 of the Federal Law No 6 of 2018 provides that “an arbitral award made in accordance with this Law shall be binding on the Parties, shall constitute res judicata, and shall be as enforceable as a judicial ruling, although to be enforced, a decision confirming the award must be obtained from the Court.”
Article 54.1 of the Federal Law No 6 of 2018 stipulates that “the decision of the Court in an action to set aside is final and can only be appealed in cassation.”
Regarding the issue of setting aside the arbitral award Article 54.6 of the Federal Law contains innovative provision, namely, that “the Court, when asked to set aside an arbitral award may, where appropriate and so requested by a party, suspend the setting aside proceedings for a period of time of up to sixty days in order to give the Arbitral Tribunal an opportunity to take any action or make any amendment to the form of the award as will eliminate the grounds for setting aside without
affecting the substance of the award. “
Also, an action to set aside an arbitral award does not stay its enforcement. The Court decides the request for a stay of enforcement within fifteen days after the date of the first scheduled hearing.
According to Article 57 of the Federal Law No 6 of 2018 “A grievance may be filed against the Court’s decision to grant or deny enforcement of an arbitral award before the competent Court of Appeal within thirty days from the date following notification.”
The principle of Kompetenz-kompetenz is recognized in the UAE, the DIFC and the ADGM. The UAE Arbitration Law permits the arbitral tribunal to rule on its own jurisdiction, including objections in relation to the nullity, non-existence, or expiration of an arbitration agreement. The arbitral tribunal may rule on a plea either as a preliminary question or in a final award. A party may, in the event where the arbitral tribunal rules as a preliminary question that it has jurisdiction, request the competent Court of Appeal to review and make its own determination on the matter within 15 days of notification. The competent Court of Appeal is required to issue its decision within 30 days of the party’s request. The arbitration proceedings have to be stayed pending the judicial decision, unless the arbitral tribunal decides to continue the proceedings upon request of a party.
Also, the DIFC Arbitration Law permits the arbitral tribunal to rule on its own jurisdiction, including any objections in relation to the existence or validity of the arbitration agreement. The arbitral tribunal may rule on a plea either as a preliminary question or in an award on the merits.
Also, the UAE Arbitration Law, the DIFC Arbitration Law and the ADGM Arbitration Regulations provide that, unless the parties agree otherwise, the arbitral tribunal has the power to order interim measures that it considers necessary.
Regarding the grounds for setting aside the arbitral award the UAE Arbitration Law largely tracks the grounds for setting aside an award that are contained in the UNCITRAL Model Law with some additions. The UAE Arbitration Law requires the applicant for annulment to prove that one or more of the following grounds applies: (i) invalidity of the arbitration agreement; (ii) incapacity of a party at the time of conclusion of the arbitration agreement; (iii) legal inability of a party to act; (iv) breach of a party’s ability to present its case; (v) non-application of the substantive law chosen by the parties; (vi) non-compliance with the parties agreement or the provisions on composition of the arbitral tribunal; (vii) procedural irregularities; and (viii) decisions outside the terms of the submission to arbitration. Also, there are further grounds which may be observed by the competent Court of Appeal ex officio: (i) non-arbitrability; and (ii) conflict with the public policy.
Although the UAE signed the New York Convention in 2006, it is only in recent years that foreign awards have been presented to the courts for enforcement. In general, the courts are enforcing foreign arbitral awards consistent with the New York Convention. The Cabinet Resolution No. 57 of 2018 concerning the Executive Regulations of Federal Law No. 11 of 1992 on the Civil Procedure Law came into force on 16 February 2019.
The Cabinet Resolution amended and expedited the procedure for enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitration awards and repealed articles 235 to 238 of the CPC. According to article 88 of the Cabinet Decision, the New York Convention conditions for enforcement of foreign arbitration awards will still take precedence in enforcement matters.
In brief, UAE has adopted pro-arbitration strategy and has been working on modernizing their arbitration laws and establishing new arbitration centers.