Seminar on: The Art of “Claimsmanship” in the Construction Industry
On 16 December 2019, the CIArb Egypt Branch organized jointly with CRCICA a seminar titled "The Art of Claimsmanship in the Construction Industry". The speakers were Eng. Ayman El-Ghazzawi, Managing Director of Value Metric Consultants (VMC), a company regulated by RICS, Eng. Hossam Kandeel, NBK Project Manager and Project Management Consultant, and Eng. Dr. Waleed El Nemr, Vice Chairman of the CIArb Egypt Branch and Contracts Director of Hill International Africa. The seminar was moderated by Eng. Dr. Salwa Fawzi, Commercial Director at Elsewedy Industrial Development. The seminar started with a moment of remembrance of two of the Branch Committee members, who passed away in October 2019, namely Mrs. Wissam El Molla, Former Branch Honorary Secretary, and Eng. Tamer Nabieh, Former Branch Treasurer. The seminar then delved into claims tactics used by contractors and employers in the construction industry from the contracts, by Dr. Waleed, cost, by Eng. Ayman, and scheduling, by Eng. Hossam perspectives. Although the tactics were based on the 1992 article by US Claims Consultant, James Zack, the presenters reflected on these tactics - and added new ones - while drawing from their own experiences.
The event was attended by 99 participants from Egypt, Jordan and Libya representing construction and private sector companies, and members of law firms. Particularly significant, this event was remotely attended, through live webinar, by 12 engineering professionals and members of arbitration and ADR institutions in Jordan. The nearly 2-hour seminar was followed by a one-hour session of stimulating questions and answers.
Second Young CRCICA Forum on Why Arbitrate?
Following the successful launch event of the Young CRCICA Forum on 27 March 2019, CRCICA organized the Second Young CRCICA Forum: Why Arbitrate? on 27 November 2019. Similar to youth forums of other international arbitral institutions, Young CRCICA aims to aid the younger generations the chance to develop their skills, gain knowledge, network with experienced practitioners, and understand arbitral procedure and other dispute resolution services.
The introductory speech was delivered by Dr. Ismail Selim, CRCICA’s Director, and H.H. Prince Dr. Bandar Ben Salman Al- Saud, President of the Saudi Arbitration Group, Vice-Chairman of CRCICA Board of Trustees. Their speech emphasized the importance of the younger generations in taking the chance to participate in the Young CRCICA Forum, while the keynote speech was delivered by Mr. Yasser Mansour, Lawyer before the Court of Cassation, Partner and Manager of Mansour Law Office. Mr. Mansour focused on “The Role of the Party Appointed Arbitrator from his/her appointment until the Rendering of the Arbitral Award”.
The event was conducted in an interactive panel discussion moderated by Dr. Mohamed Hafez, Counsel and Legal Advisor to the Director, CRCICA, and Vice-Chairman, Young CRCICA. Panelists, from Egypt, Nigeria, UAE, and USA provided answers to questions focusing on the privileges of arbitration and impartiality of arbitrators. Following the session, interesting discussions in relation to inter alia, challenges facing the arbitral institutions, other ADR techniques such as mediation, and sport arbitration were conducted by the attendees. Prof. Dr. Mohamed Abdel Raouf, Attorney at Law, Partner, Abdel Raouf Law Firm, (Egypt) concluded by providing a practical advice to the younger generation lawyers and future arbitrators, while the closing remarks were delivered by Mr. Abdallah El Shehaby, Senior Partner, Ibrachy Legal Consultancy (Egypt), Vice-Chairman, Young CRCICA.
The Forum witnessed a diversity of attendees from Bahrain, Cameroon, China, Egypt, France, Jordan, KSA, Nigeria, and Syria. Participants were young legal practitioners (partners, councils, senior lawyers, and associates), judges, members of the State Lawsuit Authority and the State Council, academics, university and pre master students, contract administrators as well as representatives of the banking, GAFI, and telecommunications sectors.
Seminar on: The Egyptian Courts and the New York Convention in 60 Years
On 6 November 2019, the CIArb Egypt Branch organized jointly with CRCICA a seminar titled: The Egyptian Courts and the New York Convention in 60 Years. The speaker was Mr. Ibrahim Shehata, Partner, Shehata & Partners, LL.M, New York University (NYU), Assistant Lecturer, Cairo University. The seminar was moderated by Ambassador Mohamed Mustafa Kamal, Former Assistant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Attorney at Law, MCIArb, and Member of the Egypt Branch Committee. Mr. Shehata focused on some controversial aspects of the New York Convention and how the Egyptian Courts dealt with them inter alia, the law applicable to the validity of foreign arbitration agreements, the effect of the misinterpretation of some articles of the Convention, and the interest rates in the Egyptian Public Policy.
The presentation was well received by the participants who raised lively discussions related to the validity of the electronic means of transmission of the arbitration agreement under the Convention, and whether Egyptian courts could rely on the official English text of the Convention to void misinterpretations. 96 participants attended the seminar being lawyers, judges, contract mangers, engineers, professors and academics, researchers, fresh graduates, and students. Attendees came from Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, and Syria.
Seminar on: Unilateral Termination by the Government of its Contracts and the Consequences on International Arbitration
On 2 October 2019, the CIArb Egypt Branch organized jointly with CRCICA a seminar titled “Unilateral Termination by the Government of its Contracts and the Consequences on International Arbitration - With a reference to the Prime Minister's decree No. 1062 / 2019, establishing the Supreme Committee for Studying and Opining on International Arbitration cases”. The speaker was Prof. Dr. Abdel-Moneem Zamzam, Professor of Private International Law, Faculty of Law, Cairo University, and Attorney before the Court of Cassation. The seminar was moderated by Ambassador Mohamed Mustafa Kamal, Former Assistant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Attorney at Law, MCIArb, and Member of the Egypt Branch Committee.
Prof. Dr. Zamzam focused on the alarming consequences of the unilateral termination by the government of its contracts resulting in increasing the unbearable compensations incurred by Egypt since the accession to ICSID in 1972. Two reasons were highlighted by Prof. Dr. Zamzam namely: the termination of investments’ contracts by unilateral acts of the state and the selection of inefficient legal counsels lacking the technical skills of conducting arbitrations. He concluded that a technical committee should be established for studying the state contracts and proposing the appropriate amicable ADR mechanisms maintaining the rights of the state.
110 professionals attended the Seminar from Egypt and Libya representing the following business sectors: construction, financial investment, banking, telecommunications, transportation, electricity, gas and petroleum. Other participants were from the Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation and the Ministry of education as well as academics from Cairo University, Ain Shams University, and Alexandria University. Members of law firms, the Egyptian judiciary, and the European Union Delegation to Egypt were also among participants. Attendees showed keen interest in the subject and the speech was followed by lively discussions.
CRCICA hosts Professor Georges Abi Saab in a Seminar on: “Some ethical problems faced by a party appointed arbitrator in investment arbitrations” on 10 April 2019
On 10 April 2019, CRCICA organized a seminar on “Some ethical problems faced by a party appointed arbitrator in investment arbitrations”. The speaker was Prof. Dr. Georges Abi Saab, Honorary Professor of International Law at the Graduate Institute of International Studies (Geneva), Former Member and President of the Appellate Body, World Trade Organization (WTO), and Member of CRCICA’s Board of Trustees. The seminar was moderated by CRCICA’s Director Dr. Ismail Selim.
Professor Abi Saab addressed controversial issues related to the independence and impartiality of arbitrators in investment arbitrations, including issue conflict, repeat appointments, and proposals to abolish the appointments of arbitrators by the parties. He highlighted the fundamental importance of impartiality in investor-state arbitrations because the state, party to these cases, represents the public interest.
The event was attended by 131 participants from Egypt, Guinea, and Sudan. Participants were members of law firms, the Egyptian Lawsuit Authority, Egyptian State Council and professors at Cairo University, Helwan University, Beni-Sweif University, Assiut University and the American University in Cairo. Other participants were from of the Ministry of Culture, GAFI, and the banking and gas sectors.
