The agreement was signed last week between the Qatar Chamber/Qatar International Centre for Conciliation and Arbitration (QICCA) and the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA), reports Lawyers Weekly.

Offshore participants

Doug Jones, ACICA president, commented: ‘In a way it [Qatar] is one big construction site and the opportunity for all of the offshore participants is to promote Australia as a neutral venue for the resolution of international arbitration that might arise out of these contracts.’
The Australian body is competing against more established arbitral seats in London, Hong Kong and Singapore to be seen as a practical location to hear disputes involving global companies.

Building projects

Mr Jones also commented on human rights issues connected to the abuse of workers in building projects for the tournament. He said that although Australia would not seek to ‘impose its views on local entities’, it is hoped that ACICA would be able to persuade parties to adhere to a higher standard of treatment of workers through agreements with international bodies.