The Cairo Court of Appeal confirms CRCICA’s judicial immunity based on its status as an international organization

In a very recent decision dated 6 June 2012, the Cairo Court of Appeal (Section 7) ruled that it has no jurisdiction over the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA), owing to the fact that CRCICA is an international organization established by virtue of a headquarters agreement concluded between the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO) and the Egyptian Government. According to the Court, such status grants CRCICA certain privileges and immunities, especially the immunity from jurisdiction of national courts, thus protecting CRCICA from lawsuits brought against it whilst administering arbitral proceedings and exercising its functions as an arbitral institution. For the Court, CRCICA should not be subject to any judicial entity in Egypt, the country hosting its headquarters, and cannot, therefore, be sued before any courts of law in Egypt, including the court having jurisdiction to decide on setting-aside motions filed against arbitral awards rendered under the auspices of the CRCICA.
(Cairo Court of Appeal, Section 7 Commercial, Challenge No. 32 of the judicial year 128, Session of 6 June 2012)