The Dubai International Financial Center announces that proposed amendments to the Arbitration Law will be put forward for public consultation
Dubai, June 11 / WAM / The Dubai International Financial Center announced that proposed amendments to the arbitration law in force at the center have been put forward for public consultation.
The Center stated in a statement today that these amendments were prepared in cooperation with the courts of the Dubai International Financial Center and an elite group of specialists and legal experts, with the aim of making fundamental changes that contribute to developing the arbitration framework at the Center in line with the latest practices of current public law.
Jack Visser, Chief Legal Officer at the Dubai International Financial Center Authority, said that the amendments include important reforms in the powers of arbitration bodies, procedures for expedited settlement of disputes, ensuring cost insurance, and enforcement of emergency arbitrator decisions, as well as establishing a new framework for mediation in a way that enhances legal efficiency and consolidates the center’s position as a leading global destination for arbitration.
The Center noted that since its issuance in 2008, the arbitration law in the Dubai International Financial Center has formed a solid legal framework to support the arbitration system in the Center over a period of nearly two decades, but the rapid developments witnessed in arbitration practices during this period necessitated amending the law to be in line with the best current international standards.
These amendments are based on a comprehensive comparative study of the most prominent rules of the world’s leading arbitration institutions, including the rules of the London Court of International Arbitration, the International Chamber of Commerce, the Dubai International Arbitration Centre, and arbitration legislation in major jurisdictions such as England and Wales, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia, thus enhancing the center’s position as an advanced global financial center that supports arbitration.
The proposed amendments to the DIFC Arbitration Law aim to clarify the scope of the transitional provisions, modernize communication and legal drafting mechanisms, establish flexible exceptions related to confidentiality, the prohibition of discrimination, address unilateral requests and enforce temporary measures through the courts, adopt the “reasonable opportunity” standard, revise the costs system, and reduce the time limits allocated for challenging arbitration awards.
The amendments introduce new provisions that authorize the Dubai International Financial Center Courts to extend the time limits necessary to initiate arbitration proceedings, while clarifying the law that must be applied to arbitration agreements, and granting arbitration bodies additional powers and procedural tools, including ensuring cost insurance, merging claims, including new parties to the proceedings, expedited settlement of disputes, issuing interim rulings, binding orders, appointing emergency arbitrators, and establishing new regulatory frameworks related to the financing of arbitration by third parties, in addition to rules of conduct. And the penalties for the parties and their legal representatives… It clarifies the remedial powers of arbitration bodies, confirms their authority to issue partial and independent awards, and includes provisions related to granting interest and extending the time limits for issuing arbitration awards.
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