19-20 November 2016, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
The Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA) held the World’s Sole Biennial International Conference on “The Role of State Courts in International Arbitration- SHARM EL SHEIKH VI” on 19-20 November 2016 at Hyatt Regency Hotel, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
SHARM ELSHEIKH 2016 was the sixth of highly successful international series of conferences being held biennially since 2005 in cooperation with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the International Federation of Commercial Arbitration Institutions (IFCAI) and the Arab Union for International Arbitration (AUIA).
The Conference grows to be branded as the only worldwide forum on the varied connection between the judiciary and arbitration. It has been known to have established a permanent venue for practitioners from all over the world for the exchange of expert views on the diverse relationship between state courts and arbitration in a cross-cultural context. As it starts its second decade, according to Mr. Renaud SORIEUL, Secretary, UNCITRAL, “the Sharm-El-Sheikh biennial Conference has become quite a landmark in the field of arbitration”.
SHARM ELSHEIKH 2016 was unprecedentedly sponsored by 15 firms and institutions led by ZULFICAR and PARTNERS having GOLD SPONSORED the Conference for fourth concessive times. The Conference’s only silver sponsor was IBRACHY and PARTNERS. The Bronze sponsors were Kosheri, Rashed & Riad Legal Consultants & Attorneys at Law, Matouk Bassiouny Attorneys at Law, Youssef and Partners Attorneys, Shehata Attorneys at Law. Proudly, supporting Organizations were a mixture of law firms and regional arbitration instructions: Helmy, Hamza & Partners member firm of Baker & Mckenzie International, Nassar Law Firm, Nour & Selim in association with Al Tamimi & Co, Badran Law Office, the GCC Commercial Arbitration Centre, the Qatar International Center for Conciliation and Arbitration and the Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution (BCDR). Media partners were GAR, the I-ArbAfrica, the Law Magazine.
2016 SHARM ELSHEIKH agenda was a unique blend of topics. In addition to addressing the latest developments related to the role of state courts in international arbitration on both Arab and international levels, hot topics and trends in the practice of international arbitration were tackled, including the abuse of due process in international arbitration, issue conflict between judges and arbitrators and the role of emergency arbitrators. Beside standard thematic approach, the relation between state courts and arbitration was also handled in an innovative fashion extending focus to various related explorations including state courts’ use of soft law instruments, the power of the judiciary to assist tribunals in taking evidence. The Conference gave floor to one of the essential controversies in the field exploring diverse views regarding the judicial review of institutional decisions. It was not less controversial to discuss the judicial review of arbitral awards in the last session. The vigorous diversity between arguments and counter agreements was extremely thought-enriching. The conference’s report provides more details.
The conference was attended by 180 participants from 24 countries, namely, Austria, Bahrain, Egypt, France, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, Palestine, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and Yemen.
