Activities of the second day of the ‘Fourth World Conference on Intel. Arbitration’ concluded on Wednesday 23 March with a slew of considerable recommendations.
Held under the patronage of HE Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al-Thani, the conference was organized by Qatar International Centre for Conciliation and Arbitration (QICCA) at Qatar Chamber (QCCI) for two days, under the theme of ‘Impact of Arbitration on Achieving a Suitable Environment for Investment’.
Earlier on Tuesday, HE Minister of Justice Masoud bin Mohammed Al Amri inaugurated the conference in the presence of HE Chairperson of Qatar Chamber and QICCA Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al-Thani and QICCA Board Member for International Relations HE Dr Sheikh Thani bin Ali Al-Thani, alongside with a crowd of experts, arbitrators and lawyers.
About 30 senior speakers from inside and outside Qatar shared their views and insight in the conference, while the number of participants exceeded 500.
Speaking at the closing session, QICCA announced the conference’s recommendations which include activating Sub-article No. 10 of Article No. 11 of the Arbitration Law No 2 of 2017 which illustrates the procedures for appointing or choosing arbitrators, as well as activating Article 37 of the Arbitration Law which provides for establishing a registry for arbitrators at the Ministry of Justice. The registry is recommended to be supervised by a committee formed specifically for this purpose consisted of law scholars specialized in international arbitration and representatives of the arbitration centers in the state to ensure the appointment of a suitable arbitrator.
Recommendations also include by-law determining the required procedures for depositing the arbitral awards that are set forth in Sub-article No. (11) of Article No. (31) of the Arbitration Law, taking into account the principle of confidentiality and preserving the data of the parties and the subject of the dispute.
They also include inserting the arbitration agreement in contracts of government bodies, especially in construction contracts.
The conference also recommended amending Sub-article No. 3 of Article No. 33 of the Arbitration Law, which gives the court the authority to set aside the arbitral awards as indicated in this article, as the nullity shall be based on the request of the parties only, and the court does not have such right to rule it on its motion.
As for the Mediation Law, the conference recommended amending Article No. 22 so that the stay of the prescribed periods in accordance with that Article shall be since the signing of the mediation agreement and not the start of procedures.
It also recommended issuing a decision containing the procedures concerning the application of the documentation of the settlement agreement to the court and nature of the decision which will be issued by the judge in line with Article No 35 of the Law.
It also urges amending Article No. 27 of the Mediation Law to be as follows: “The court may decide that it is not passable to consider the case because it was settled by mediation”.
Agreement of cooperation
On the sidelines of the forum, QICCA and Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration signed a memorandum of understanding to boost cooperation and coordination between them in arbitration field.
The MOU was signed by QICCA Board Member for International Relations HE Dr Sheikh Thani bin Ali Al-Thani and Dr. Ismail Saleem, Director of Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration.
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