New York Convention Roundtable in Dubai focuses on judges' training shortfall and regional arbitration laws

The New York Convention is the primary international convention for the enforcement of foreign arbitration awards.

A particular focus of the discussion was the need within the UAE for an Arbitration Law meeting the highest international standards.

Those attending expressed the view that the UAE should avoid basing its arbitration law on those of its neighbors in the region - especially as many of those laws were widely considered to be outdated and confusing. All present agreed that the United Nations Model Arbitration Law was a well respected template that worked best when adopted with only minor alterations.

"Given its increasingly ability to attract foreign direct investment into the country, it is of vital national interest that the UAE evolve a sophisticated Arbitration Law, superior amongst its regional neighbors and beyond," said Essam Al Tamimi, Founding Partner of Al Tamimi & Company.

"Instilling a strong framework for arbitration would provide the foreign investors an alternative way of settling the disputes among themselves and with local or regional partners. This would allow sophisticated users the ability to arbitrate in the UAE. I am certain having seen the efforts of the government in the legal and judicial reforms that the Arbitration Law and the process in the UAE can be improved."

There was a strong consensus to the effect that the UAE ought to consult widely in an effort to produce a world class arbitration law surpassing all others in the immediate region and beyond. A draft new arbitration law was released for discussion by the government in September 2006. Critics of the draft law believe that it will not provide the security that foreign investors look for and that it will force sophisticated users to look elsewhere or insist on UAE parties agreeing to arbitrate abroad.

The UAE agreed to apply the Convention in November 2006. Amongst those attending were international lawyers and arbitrators from the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanon, Singapore, the USA, Scotland, Ireland, France and England. Also present were members of the Dubai Courts and the UAE Ministry of Economy.

Under the Convention, commercial arbitration awards made in the UAE can now be directly enforced in 142 other countries. In return, foreign awards can also be enforced through the UAE's courts. The New York Convention is considered a key instrument in the promotion of international trade and investment.

Other topics discussed included (i) the urgent need for additional judges trained and experienced in international commercial law and (ii) the desirability of introducing a more critical, as well as a more competitive, system of undergraduate legal training.

The UAE's increasing volumes of international trade and investment, its increasing importance as a regional arbitration centre and its promotion of specialist legal tribunals such as the DIFC Courts were all felt to require a much greater legal expertise than locally and regionally trained law graduates were currently being equipped to provide.