Past Events

For the first time, CRCICA co-organized and sponsored two events at the Dubai Arbitration Week (11-15 November 2018) hosted by the Dubai International Financial Centre (“DIFC”) Arbitration Institute, Dubai, UAE.

On 15 November 2018, CRCICA and the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry jointly organized a Seminar on “Commercial Arbitration” hosted by the Riyadh Chamber. The event was moderated by Princess Hala bint Khaled bin Sultan, Director, Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, Former Legal Advisor at the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority and Honorary Member of CRCICA. The inauguration speech was delivered by Mr. Ajlan Bin Abdulaziz Alajlan, Chairman of the Board of the Riyadh Chamber. In his speech, Mr. Ajlan outlined the Chamber’s role in promoting and developing the commercial arbitration as an effective and expedite means to resolve commercial and investment disputes. Prince Dr. Bandar Ben Salman Al-Saud, Honorary President of the GCC Commercial Arbitration Centre and Vice-Chairman of CRCICA’s Board of Trustees shed light on the progress of arbitration in KSA and the role of the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration in raising the capacity of Saudi arbitrators.

The presentation of Dr. Selim focused on the most important arbitration awards rendered in cases related to the oil industry and involving Arab oil-producing countries. The presentation also included a historical background about arbitration in the region as well as CRCICA’s services, Board of Trustees, Advisory Committee, caseload and recent activities and recognitions.

The seminar witnessed the singing of a cooperation agreement between CRCICA and the Riyadh Chamber.

Seminar on “The Social and Psychological Underpinnings of Commercial Arbitration” following the launching the project in Egypt

Egypt was selected to be the starting point of the 5-year project, and the first country outside Europe to be studied in this important research. During the first week of November 2018, CRCICA hosted a series of interviews conducted by Tony Cole, JAMS arbitrator and reader in arbitration and investment law at Leicester Law School, and Joshua Karton, associate professor and associate dean at the Queen’s University Faculty of Law in Canada, with Egyptian arbitration practitioners. The interviews were conducted as part of the Research Project into “the Social and Psychological Underpinnings of Commercial Arbitration in Europe,” conducted by University of Leicester Law School, funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council and supported by the Chartered Institute for Arbitrators. This project is reported to be the “biggest empirical research project yet to be undertaken in the field.”

Following the end of the interviews, CRCICA hosted and organized, on 8 November 2018, a seminar titled “The Social Underpinnings in Arbitration”. The speaker was Dr. Joshua Karton, Associate Professor and the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research at Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada. At the onset of the event, Dr. Karton commented on the results of the interviews conducted in Cairo: “What we found here (in Egypt) is a very globalized arbitration community even among people who never practiced outside Cairo. The most surprising thing is how much what we saw here is similar to what we expect to see in Paris, London, and New York and other really larger arbitration centres.”

The presentation of Dr. Karton titled: Sociological Insights for International Arbitration Practice focused on the role of “Legal Culture” and its impact on international arbitration and on the decisions of arbitrators. Dr Karton also approached the impact of Legal Culture on arbitration. He noticed that despite some “cultural clashes”, there is an international trend towards harmonization. Dr. Karton also focused on the central role that CRCICA plays in the arbitration community, stating that “what we did find here in Egypt is that CRCICA is very much a hub, the visual metaphor in the centre of the wheel, when we spoke to different law firms, different practitioners, and different kinds of industry groups.”

Attendees were from Egypt, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and had various backgrounds and professions, including law firms, universities, banks, telecommunications sector, construction and engineering industry as well as members of the Ministry of Education.

On 5 November 2018, White & Case, in conjunction with CRCICA and the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt organized a launch event for the 4th Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and White & Case International Arbitration Survey on “The Evolution of International Arbitration”, at the Nile Ritz Carlton Hotel, Cairo, Egypt.

The 2018 Survey offered a unique insight into the views of not only private practitioners, but also in-house counsels, arbitrators, representatives of arbitral institutions and other key stakeholders across the globe. The Survey mapped changes in the field of international arbitration, in users’ preferences and perceptions and identified the arbitration community’s expectations for the future direction of international arbitration.

Mr. Daniel Garton, Partner, at White & Case, introduced the survey. A panel of experts including Dr. Hani Sarie-Eldin, Founder and Managing Partner, Sarie-Eldin & Partners, Chairman – AmCham Egypt Legal Affairs Committee, Dr. Ismail Selim, CRCICA Director, Mr. Christophe von Krause, and Mr. John Willems, Partners at White & Case had an interactive discussion about the survey’s findings. Based on 922 responses of users from different parts of the world, including lawyers, arbitrators, in-house counsels, academics and experts, findings indicated, that 97% of respondents preferred international arbitration to resolve cross-border commercial disputes. London and Paris remained the most preferred seats for international arbitration, followed by Singapore, Hong Kong, Geneva, New York and Stockholm. Findings also showed progress in respect of gender diversity in arbitral tribunals over the past five years. The increase of the use of information technology in international arbitration was welcome by respondents since it enhance the process’ efficiency. Respondents also believed that use of international arbitration is likely to increase in the future in the Energy, Construction/ Infrastructure, Technology, and Banking and Finance sectors. For more details about the findings of the survey please click here

Participants included legal practitioners, professionals working in the banking, energy and construction sectors. Representatives of the General Authority for Investment (GAFI), universities, ministries, and judicial authorities also attended.

On 16 July 2018, CRCICA organized a seminar on “The UNIDROIT Principles in International Contracts and International Arbitration”. The guest speaker was Prof. Dr. Eckart Brödermann, Professor at the University of Hamburg, Attorney-at-law in Germany and New York. The speech approached the UNIDROIT Principles in International Contracts as a transnational soft law instrument recommended by the UNCITRAL. Determining the perspective, Prof. Dr. Brödermann explained that “the dispute resolution clause trumps the choice of law clause”. He then provided a didactic explanation of the three models of using the UNDROIT principles being: Direct choice of UNIDROIT Principles, Incorporation of UNIDROIT Principles, and Supplementation of the CISG. At the end of the speech, Prof. Dr. Brödermann highlighted the practical value of the UNIDROIT Principles all intersecting at an efficient risk management mechanism which was explained in details. The seminar was attended by participants from Egypt, Iraq, Germany, and Yemen mainly representing the following business sectors: construction, engineering, telecommunications as well as oil and gas. Governmental officials representing the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation were also in attendance. Other participants were members of law firms, universities, the Egyptian Lawsuit Authority, GAFI, and regional arbitration centres.