Past Events

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.

CRCICA hosted and co-organized the OECD-EU Regional Seminar on “Investment Dispute Management and Prevention” on 26-27 June 2018 and the OECD national workshop on "Investment Dispute Management and Prevention in Egypt", supported by the Middle East and North Africa Transition Fund, on 28 June 2018.

The Regional Seminar was held in the context of the EU-OECD Programme on Promoting Investment in the Mediterranean, which aims at supporting the implementation of sound investment policies and effective institutions in the Southern Mediterranean region.

With international investment disputes on the rise, notably in MED countries, and increasing concerns regarding Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms, the aim of the regional seminar was to build capacities of participating government representatives to deal with and to prevent disputes between foreign investors and the State. Discussions focused on ISDS trends and challenges in the Mediterranean region, while recalling current debates and developments at the global level. A session on the main steps of the dispute settlement process was conducted with practitioners, followed by a peer-learning session on the establishment of policies and mechanisms for the prevention of investment disputes, to avoid escalation into judicial or arbitration cases, merging the different countries’ experiences.

The seminar was well attended by over 140 participants including government officials, private sector representatives from the region, representatives from international organizations, peers and international legal experts from EU countries, OECD experts and academia. All eight beneficiary countries of the Programme (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, and Tunisia) were represented. Other countries represented were: France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Poland, Republic of Lithuania, the U.S.A and Djibouti.

The regional seminar was followed by the national workshop, on 28 June 2018, which was organized under the MENA Transition Fund project on “Enhancing the investment climate in Egypt”. This project, implemented jointly by the OECD and the World Bank, aims at enhancing the investment framework in Egypt and at supporting the Government in designing a new investment policy and legal framework, and in strengthening its international investment regime.

The workshop aimed at building capacities of Egyptian government officials to deal with disputes between foreign investors and the State whether through management or prevention. It followed upon a workshop on the same topic held in March 2016 with counsellors, judges, legal experts and policy makers from Ministry of Justice and economic courts, State Council, Ministry of Investment and GAFI (conclusions available).

The program gave an overview of investment dispute cases that arose in Egypt in the last decade and their implications for Egypt and reviewed the management of the dispute settlement process focusing on the Egyptian practices and mechanisms while looking at other countries’ experiences and possible options for further rationalization of the institutional mechanisms established in Egypt.

Participants of the workshop comprised judiciary and government legal experts from the Egyptian Ministries of Justice, Investment and International Cooperation, Foreign Affairs, GAFI and other relevant institutions that are dealing with investors.

On 20 June 2018, the European Union Delegation to Egypt and CRCICA organized a seminar on: Investor-State Dispute Settlement: Exploring the Multilateral Investment Court Initiative. The Guest Speaker was Mr. Colin Brown, Deputy Head of Unit Dispute Settlement and Legal Aspects of Trade Policy, Directorate-General for Trade with the European Commission. Moderated by Dr. Dalia Hussein, CRCICA Deputy Director, the Seminar reflected a useful debate exposing the two arguments supporting and criticizing the Multilateral Investment Court Initiative and bringing to the audience a comprehensive analysis of the Investor-State Dispute Scenery.

Mr. Brown tackled the main features of a multilateral investment court and how they are meant to address the shortcomings of the current ISDS, its advantages for investors and states were also explained. Moreover, Mr. Jeremy Sharpe, Partner, Shearman & Sterling (London) LLP delivered a presentation on “The multilateral investment court: Questions and Criticisms”. Mr. Sharpe compared the European Court Initiative mechanism to other existing ones and examined its ability to deliver on the stated goals, i.e., neutrality, effectiveness, legal predictability and coherent dispute settlement system.

Other panelists were Dr. Ahmed El-Kosheri, Senior Partner at Kosheri, Rashed and Riad Law Firm and Dr. El Sayed Torky, Senior Advisor for the Federation of Egyptian Industries.

The event was widely attended by representatives of the majority of stakeholders including the Egyptian Lawsuit Authority, State Council, the Egyptian General Investment Authority (GAFI), Consumer Protection Agency, Ministries of Justice, Investment and Petroleum, five eminent universities, private sector companies, Italian Chamber of Commerce, Embassies of the USA, Denmark, Sweden, Greece, Belgium, Lithuania and Bulgaria.

On 15 May 2018, CRCICA organized a seminar on “Dispute Boards: FIDIC Contracts”. The speaker was Dr. Eng. Sherif El-Haggan, Main Partner & CEO of Sherif EL-Haggan & Partner (Contract Administration & Arbitration Bureau), Professor of Construction Law at ESS (AUC), AAST, Cairo and Ain Shams Universities. The seminar shed light on the effectiveness of Dispute Boards (DBs) in resolving disputes related to construction industry contracts as DBs prevent accumulation of claims and future disputes during the construction phase.

Attendees were able to get acquainted with DB’s Decisions which are often used to reach an amicable settlement where the parties are able to perform educated negotiations after becoming aware of their entitlements from a reasoned decision issued by a trusted DB.

Dr. El-Haggan highlighted a very important feature of DB related to the choice of DB members as the parties play a much more active role in the appointment of the DB Members when compared with, e.g. an arbitral tribunal, and thus are much more confident with the DB’s decisions. Dr. El-Haggan also stressed that DBs are much more effective if the parties agree that the DB Decisions are binding.

An excellent example involving a referral related to variation orders and claims for damages was introduced to the audience; where the DB was requested to clarify detailed matters related to which events warrant the addition of a profit element and recommended percentages of overheads and profits. Following the DB decision, 250 variations were agreed by the parties on the basis of the details indicated in the DB decision.

The seminar ended on an interesting Q & A session and witnessed a diversity of participants from the following business sectors: engineering and construction, cost control and contracts, contracts administration, real estate development, projects management, investment, dispute resolution as well as members of law firms.