By Hassan Al Hais
The implementation of the New York Convention in the UAE did not expressly displace the enforcement provisions in the Civil Procedure Code. Therefore, parties wanting to enforce an award under the New York Convention must satisfy the requirements of the UAE Civil Code. In practice, enforcing arbitration awards can be a lengthy and unpredictable process. It is common for the UAE courts to require that the foreign award satisfies the rules and procedures of the UAE, and may refuse to enforce it if there is a violation of local laws. One potential difficulty arises in convincing the UAE Court that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the dispute in the first place (irrespective of the arbitration agreement between the parties). The UAE Court normally has a fairly broad jurisdiction over disputes including, for example, claims connected to monies or assets within the UAE and claims arising out of contracts executed or to be performed in the UAE, as well as claims over foreigners resident in the UAE. Therefore, it is difficult to prove that the UAE Court did not have jurisdiction over the order. [Read more…]