Welcome to our Guide to Arbitration in the Middle East.
In the last decade, the Middle East has seen both domestic and regional developments in arbitration that are reflective of international best practice. Many States have introduced new Arbitration laws, based on the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, a model already used by many other countries throughout the world. In addition, the regional arbitral institutions in the region have been at the forefront of many of these developments, with many revising their rules to reflect both innovation and reform. As a result, the Middle East now offers not only various options for arbitration friendly seats, but also various institutional options that can administer the resolution of international and domestic disputes.
In the various Country Guides, we provide an overview and copy of the legislative framework applicable in each State, key recent developments and a comparison of the rules of the leading regional arbitral institutions in order to assist clients in choosing the correct forum and seat for any future disputes, as well as providing guidance on how to manage existing disputes.
15 January 2024
Download
Overview of Qatar Arbitration Law
1. Arbitration laws in Qatar generally fall within the following three legal frameworks, all of which are based on the UNCITRAL Model law, which is widely recognised as arbitral best practice resulting in an arbitration process that is broadly like other international jurisdictions:
a. Qatar Arbitration Law: in 2017, the State of Qatar enacted a new arbitration law, Law No. 2 of 2017 Promulgating the Civil and Commercial Arbitration Law ("Qatar Arbitration Law");
b. QFC Arbitration Regulations: in 2005, the Qatar Financial Centre ("QFC"), which has its own legal, financial, and administrative independence from the State of Qatar, issued QFC Regulation No. 8/2005 on the QFC Arbitration Regulations ("QFC Arbitration Regulations") to facilitate arbitration in connection with activities carried out in the QFC; and
c. Qatar International Centre for Conciliation and Arbitration ("QICCA") was established in 2006 as Qatar's main arbitral institution. Arbitrations administered by QICCA are governed by either the QICCA Rules for Arbitration and Conciliation 2012 ("QICCA Rules") or the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules.
2. Qatar is also signatory to several multilateral and bilateral treaties on judicial co‑operation, including:
a. the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958;
b. the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes Between States and Nationals of other States 1965;
c. the GCC convention for the Execution of Judgments, Delegations and the Judicial Notifications 1996; and
d. the Riyadh Convention on Judicial Cooperation between States of the Arab League 1983.
Qatar Arbitration Law
The Qatar Arbitration Law superseded Articles 190 to 210 of Law No. 13 of 1990 on the Issuance of the Civil and Commercial Procedure Law, which previously dealt with arbitration in the region. The Qatar Arbitration Law takes precedence over any other laws that conflict with its provisions. The Qatar Arbitration Law applies to all arbitrations in Qatar and any international commercial arbitration where the parties agree that the arbitration shall be subject to its provisions.
1. The Qatar Arbitration Law has streamlined the procedure for enforcing arbitral awards, which emphasises Qatar's intention to promote itself as a more arbitration‑friendly jurisdiction. Previously, the Civil and Commercial Procedure Court had discretion to review international awards on their merits and annul awards on procedural grounds. The Court no longer has this discretion and instead the following enforcement procedures apply:
a. Parties are unable to challenge arbitral awards on the merits alone. Arbitral awards have a res judicata effect, which means that where the issues in dispute have been decided by the tribunal, the parties cannot re‑litigate the same issues and are bound by the tribunal's decision;
b. Whilst challenges may not be brought on the merits, a party may seek to annul an arbitral award, provided that an application is made no later than 30 days after the award is rendered (Article 33.4);
c. However, if no annulment application is made within the 30-day period, the successful party has the option of applying for enforcement by submitting an application to the competent Qatari court (Article 34.3). Article 35 provides a limited list of the grounds on which the Qatari courts may decline to enforce or recognise an arbitral award.
2. The Qatar Arbitration Law also introduced various changes to the conduct of arbitration in Qatar. For example:
a. Parties may not arbitrate a dispute relating to an administrative contract without the prior approval of either the Prime Minister or the latter's delegate;
b. Public judicial persons cannot refer disputes between one another to arbitration; and
c. Both the Qatar Arbitration Law and the QFC Arbitration Regulations of 2005 (see below) allow tribunals to decide their own jurisdiction (Kompetenz-Kompetenz) and consider an arbitration agreement to be independent of the underlying terms of a contract.
3. However, the Qatar Arbitration Law remains unclear in several ways; for example, it has omitted to define what is meant by administrative contracts and has not set out the types of disputes that parties are not legally permitted to settle themselves. Therefore despite marked improvements, the Qatar Arbitration Law requires further development.
4. The Qatar Arbitration Law has introduced a more streamlined process for parties seeking to arbitrate in Qatar. For example, as the Qatar Arbitration Law and QFC Arbitration Regulations ascribe to the UNCITRAL Model law, they have identical grounds under which an award may be challenged. Article 33 of the Qatar Arbitration Law and Article 41 of the QFC Arbitration Regulations provide that challenges to awards must be based on:
a. the validity of the arbitration agreement;
b. the violation of due process;
c. the tribunal's violation of its scope of authority;
d. the improper constitution of the tribunal; and/or
e. procedural irregularities.
5. Moreover, under the Qatar Arbitration Law, parties with Qatar‑seated arbitrations, when choosing their competent court of arbitration, have the option of choosing either the Civil and Commercial Arbitral Disputes Circuit in the Court of Appeals (local Qatari courts) or the First Instance Circuit of Civil and Commercial Court of the Qatar Financial Centre (the "QFC Court")
Download
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.