Socio-legal Evaluation and Drafting Imperative for a Progressive Federal Regime for Arbitration in the UAE : a Critique of Competing Emirati Arbitration Models

Arbitration is of growing importance across the United Arab Emirate (UAE) and there are various arbitral regimes with different levels of international respectability within the federation. Despite the existence of a draft federal arbitration law there is no respective federal law in place. The economy of the UAE has expanded over the last 5 decades and with economic development has come an increase in commercial activities, which has led to higher incidence of commercial disputes on an equally high rate. Arbitration has not only become a favourite route for domestic commercial transactions but it also applies to international commercial transactions and investment disputes. With the increase of arbitration cases in the UAE, it has become necessary to pass a federal law for arbitration in general in order to fill the legal vacuum in the present civil and procedures law No.11/1992. Passing a federal law to regulate arbitral proceedings would enhance the legal position of the UAE and not just a part of it in attracting international investment. This will in turn lead to improved economic growth and the encouragement of foreign investments. The significance of enacting a new arbitration law is that it would also help to end the conflict between the existing nine arbitration centres in the UAE with regard to the enforcement of local and foreign judgments. The different regulations and laws for each centre furthermore creates uncertainties about how to enforce awards between these centres. This begs the question of when will this important Gulf Cooperation Council member state have a deserving and fit for purpose federal law on commercial arbitration. This thesis evaluates the draft federal law, investigates the socio-legal challenges preventing the achievement of the noble aim of implementation of a federal law and evaluates the existing regimes and bodies regulating arbitration in the federating parts of the UAE.