Doha, Qatar: The 5th World Conference on International Arbitration, organized by the Qatar International Centre for Conciliation and Arbitration (QICCA) under the theme 'Arbitration in the MENA Region - Present and Future,' concluded on Wednesday with a slew of significant recommendations.
The two-day conference featured seven discussion panels on several topics relating to international arbitration, with 35 speakers from prominent figures in international arbitration from GCC, Arab, and foreign countries.
In the closing session, QICCA's Secretary-General Ibrahim Shahbik announced the conference's recommendations which included allowing the review of Court of Appeal rulings on arbitration awards by the Court of Cassation and seeking UNCITRAL's recommendations when drafting arbitration and mediation legislation.
Recommendations also included issuing lists of qualified arbitrators along with clear guidelines and conditions to govern the appointment of arbitrators by competent courts in cases of ad hoc arbitration and developing advisory guidelines to regulate the conduct of arbitrators in ad hoc arbitration to enhance the arbitration process.
They paid tribute to the judicial approach that supports arbitration by facilitating the recognition of arbitration agreement by reference, while emphasizing that this should only apply in clear reference cases, as per the established practice in comparative jurisprudence among model law jurisdictions.
The conference also affirmed the importance of subjecting international arbitration agreement to the law of the arbitrations seat, unless otherwise agreed by parties, which is in line with the established approach in the jurisprudence of the supreme courts in Arab countries and other comparative jurisdictions. It also called for developing rules on arbitrators' disclosure process prior to issuing appointment awards in ad hoc arbitration, as well as activating the role of mediation in resolving disputes before the Investment Court in accordance with the Qatari Mediation Law.
The first panel on the second day of the conference discussed the developments and problems of practical arbitration. The second panel focused on the qualifications and ethics of arbitrators and expert witnesses, while the third panel addressed the role of national courts in developing arbitration.
Moderated by QICCA Arbitrator and former Technical Office Manager of the Public Works Authority (PWA) Eng. Ahmad Al Ansari, the fourth panel focused on arbitration in specialized disputes.
