On April 2, 2014, Prof. Nader M. Ibrahim, LL.D., Arab Academy for Science Technology and Maritime Transport, delivered a lecture on “Judicial Review of the absence of the award signature by the minority of the arbitral tribunal”. Prof. Ibrahim analyzed the actual application of Article 43(1) of the Egyptian Arbitration Act No. 27 of 1994, which requires the majority of the arbitral tribunal to provide the reasons for the absence of award signature by the minority. Based on recent Egyptian Cassation Court decisions (namely that of: Feb. 9, 2010 and June 11, 2012), the lecturer reached the conclusion that the Egyptian Cassation Court follows an attenuated line of interpretation that focuses on the reason underpinning the legal requirement of justifying the minority’s refusal to sign the award, and which the Court sums up in the safeguard of the deliberations, leading to actual non-requirement of the said justification as long as deliberations between all members of the Tribunal have taken place. This line of case-law is supportive to arbitration, but is considered too much liberal by the lecturer, who calls upon the courts of Appeal and Cassation to require actual explanation for the absence of the signature by the minority, especially as to whether the minority was given the opportunity to participate in the deliberations, as well as the valid formation of the tribunal at the time of the award making.
The lecture was attended by members of law firms, mass media sector, investment and construction companies, international organizations, state courts, administrative prosecution, industrial corporations and holding companies.
