Past Events

Held on 14 January 2015, the first Wednesday One Seminars of the year opened up very interesting discussions on "The Law and Practice of the Arbitrators' Duty to Ascertain the Content and Apply the Law Governing the Merits of the Dispute". Delivered by Dr. Mohamed Salah Abdel Wahab, the lecture set a thematic statement that national arbitration laws and institutional rules infrequently address the extent to which arbitrators may ascertain and apply the contents of the lex causae (the chosen governing law) and discussed the constraints arbitrators face in fulfilling their obligation to determine and apply the chosen law or rules. According to Dr. Abdel Wahab, there are three essential constraints:(a) ne ultra petita, (b) transparency and foreseeability, and (c) due process. Dr. Abdel Wahab is Founding Partner and Head of the International Arbitration Group, Zulficar and Partners, Professor of Private International Law and Dispute Resolution, Faculty of Law - Cairo University and Vice-Chairman, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Cairo Branch).      

In November and December, CRCICA, in collaboration with International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group) hosted a series of events to promote commercial mediation led by Prof. Dr. Nadja Alexander, an imminent international scholar and practitioner of mediation.  

This celebratory event was held on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the Egyptian Arbitration Law no 27 / 1994. The agenda featured three discussion panels tackling the following themes: 1) Practical problems arising out of the application of the Egyptian Arbitration Law ; 2) Case Law on the Law; 3) Salient Features of the arbitration legislative policy in Egypt ; In a dynamic discussion structure, a wide variety of experts approached the different topics of the agenda. Each panel tackled a number of comprehensive practice-grounded questions that triggered a unique exchange of experience among panelists complemented by expert questions and interventions from the floor. At the closing session, CRCICA reported a proposal of amendment, integrating the discussions of the conference as well as recommendations of revisions prepared earlier by eminent practitioners under the auspices of the Centre. Users representing a variety of business sectors were in attendance, including the fields of telecommunication, construction, banking import and export, capital market. Also, many law firms, ministries of justice, universities, non-governmental and international organizations and national courts were represented. Beside an outstanding majority of Egyptian professionals, there were attendees from United Arab Emirates, Sudan and Yemen who chose to observe the leading Egyptian experience in the application of the Arbitration Law. Please click here to view the full report of the conference in Arabic

Given the increasing interest in multi-tiered dispute resolution (MDR) processes, CRCICA hosted a roundtable discussion that involved eminent arbitration practitioners in Egypt to explore the option of institutionalizing Arb-Med-Arb in CRCICA. "Arb-Med-Arb" is a process where a dispute is referred to arbitration before mediation is attempted. If the parties are able to settle their dispute through mediation, their mediated settlement may be recorded as a consent award. If the parties are unable to settle their dispute through mediation, they may continue with the arbitration proceedings. Discussions were based on the case study of the Signapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC) which recently initiated Arb-Med-Arb. The feedback from the attendees was very positive, in view of the benefits that the combination of this process can offer.  

On 3 December 2014, Mr. Mohamed A.H. Madkour, Partner, Head of Dispute Resolution at Ibrachy & Partners delivered a lecture entitled "Issues Regarding of the Arbitration agreement in Investment Disputes". The lecture handled the most peculiar aspects of arbitration agreements in investment disputes stressing the importance of accurately drafting its provisions to avoid complications that might arise in the course of settling as crucial type of disputes as investment disputes are. The lecture was very well received and have triggered critical practice-based discussions.