According to lawyers at the local office of London-based global practice Clyde & Co, the emirate’s highest court handed down ‘an unequivocal ruling’ confirming that foreign arbitration awards will be enforced in line with international treaty obligations.

Hostile coverage

The firm maintains that the most recent judgment puts paid to an undercurrent of hostile media coverage regarding the ability of foreign businesses to enforce awards in the United Arab Emirates.
‘[The ruling] is welcome news for users of international arbitration and for Dubai’s position generally as an international arbitration hub,’ the firm said in a statement released yesterday. ‘It is especially welcome in the wake of recent commentary from some observers painting a negative picture of the treatment of arbitration by the Dubai courts.’

New York convention

According to the firm, in the most recent case, the Dubai Court of Cassation upheld the enforcement of two related foreign rulings against a Dubai company under the 54-year-old New York convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards.
In a statement, the firm said: ‘Affirming the judgment of the lower courts to enforce the awards, the court held that the [New York convention] is the relevant law that applies to the enforcement of foreign awards in the UAE. Significantly, the Court rejected the resisting party’s reliance on the arbitration provisions in the UAE Civil Procedure Code that apply to domestic award enforcement.’

Code dismissed

The lawyers maintain that the recent ruling ‘leaves no doubt that the [code] provisions should have no place in the enforcement of foreign awards in the UAE’.
However, they caution that ‘it remains to be seen what the approach of the UAE courts will be to an award annulled or one arguably requiring ratification at its foreign seat’.