Originially from: World Arbitration and Mediation Review (WAMR)

Notes on the Early Stages of an International Arbitration:
A Practical View for the Arabian Gulf
By Richard H. Kreindler, Partner, Jones Day Reavis & Pogue. Mr. Kreindler, a
member of the Advisory Board of WAMR, is admitted to the New York and Paris
Bars and currently practices in Frankfurt. He is Coordinator of the
European/Middle East International Disputes Practice of Jones Day. This article
is based on a presentation given in September 1994 during a five-day conference
on “International Arbitration and ADR in the Arabian Gulf Region,” held in
Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
A constructive approach to “successful international arbitration and ADR” in
the Gulf Region must not lose sight of some of the particularities of this part of
the world, and of how the question is handled differently from one jurisdiction to
another within this region. At the same time, it would be a disservice to this topic
to overstress the ways in which international dispute resolution in this region
supposedly “differs” from approaches in other areas.
One reason that this topic has become so important to practitioners not native to
the region is that arbitrations in the region increasingly involve a mixture of local
and transnational elements. Both the Arab and non-Arab practitioner should
therefore appreciate the influence of transnational issues on what may originally
have been understood as a local arbitration, albeit with a foreign counterparty.
Among the transnational influences being felt in the Arab arbitration world are
the recent enactment of new arbitration legislation in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon,
Algeria, Tunisia, Qatar, Egypt, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates. Another
sign of the convergence of the Arab environment and the rest of the international
arbitration field is the creation of permanent arbitration centers in the Middle East
and the Arabian Gulf, including in Bahrain, Cairo, Abu Dhabi, and Rabat.
It is in the context of these transnational influences that I focus on a general
treatment of some practical concerns in international arbitration in the Gulf. These
practical elements should be applicable to the Arab and non-Arab worlds alike.
This focus is useful not only because of the increasing awakening of Arab
jurisdictions to international arbitration, but also because certain arbitrations
involving governmental entities in the Arab states may still end up taking place in
the Arab jurisdiction and under its local law. For example, the Government of
Dubai, including its departments and corporations, may not accede to an
arbitration agreement providing for the application of non-UAE law or non-UAE
procedure. Nor may it accede to an arbitration agreement that provides for the
situs of the arbitration to be outside Dubai.
I. A Definition of Who Is Involved
In arbitration in the Gulf Region, just as in other areas, perhaps the most