9th ICC MENA Conference on International Arbitration

14.00 – 14.05 GST

11.00 – 11.05 CET

• Hassan Arab, Partner, Regional Head of Dispute Resolution – Litigation & Arbitration, Al Tamimi & Co, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Member of the Steering Committee, President of the ICC UAE Arbitration Commission

14.05 – 14.20 GST

11.05 – 11.20 CET

Keynote address

• Alexis Mourre, President, ICC International Court of Arbitration, Paris

14.20 – 14.40 GST

11.20 – 11.40 CET

Opening of a case management office for the ICC Court Secretariat at the ADGM Arbitration Centre

• Linda Fitz-Alan, Registrar and Chief Executive, Abu Dhabi Global Market Courts, United Arab Emirates
• Alexis Mourre, President, ICC International Court of Arbitration, Paris

14.40 – 16.00 GST

11.40 – 13.00 CET

“Judicial approaches to arbitration in the MENA: A bittersweet panorama?”

This panel will feature a round table of eminent speakers to discuss judicial approaches to arbitration proceedings and awards in some key MENA jurisdictions. The panelists will address recent cases and judgments dealing with aspects of the arbitration agreement, the proceedings and arbitral awards from leading jurisdictions in the MENA region.

The panelists will shed light on the areas of uncertainty arising in the recent case law of some national courts, and the issues that need to be addressed to improve consistency and predictability in this field. Conversely, the speakers will examine another corpse of key decisions that have comforted lately the progressive and arbitration friendly approach of the national courts of some jurisdictions. Finally, this roundtable will discuss whether the stakeholders, from arbitral institutions to practitioners, are meeting the parties’ expectations in managing the proceedings fairly and effectively to avoid judicial scrutiny and the setting aside of awards.

• Ali Al Hashemi, Managing Partner, Global Advocacy and Legal Counsel, United Arab Emirates
• Dame Elizabeth Gloster, Arbitrator, One Essex Court; Former High Court Judge; Former Vice-President, Civil Division of the Court of Appeal, United Kingdom; Judge of the Abu Dhabi Global Market Courts and a Justice of the Court of Appeal of Bermuda
• Bassam Mirza, Founding Partner, PKM avocats, France/Lebanon
• Ahmed Ouerfelli, Attorney at Law, Ouerfelli Attorneys and Counsels- former Judge, Tunisia

Moderator

• Mohamed S. Abdel Wahab, Founding Partner & Head of International Arbitration; Zulficar & Partners, Egypt; Vice-President, ICC International Court of Arbitration; Chair, Private International Law and Professor of Dispute Resolution, Cairo University

16.00 – 16.30 GST

13.00 – 13.30 CET

Networking break

16.30 – 17.00 GST

13.30 – 14.00 CET

Round table with ADGM and ICC representatives

Discussion and Q&A regarding the establishment of the ICC case management team in ADGM : what added value for the MENA region?

• Dania Fahs, Deputy Director, MENA, International Court of Arbitration, Abu Dhabi
• Alexander G. Fessas, Secretary General, ICC International Court of Arbitration; Director, ICC Dispute Resolution Services, Paris
• Živa Filipič, Managing Counsel, ICC International Court of Arbitration, Paris
• Sami Houerbi, Director for Eastern Mediterranean, Middle East & Africa, ICC International Court of Arbitration, Abu Dhabi/Tunis
• Adam Peters, Senior Legal Counsel, Abu Dhabi Global Market Courts, United Arab Emirates

17.00 – 18.15 GST

14.00 – 15.15 CET

“The increasing role of expert evidence in infrastructure disputes: A necessary evil?”

Reliance on expert evidence in international arbitration has increased significantly over the past decades as business and international transactions have gained in complexity and technicality. In the infrastructure field, legal disputes are more and more centered on technical, delay and quantum evidence presented by experts, and arbitral tribunals sometimes rely on such evidence for the purpose of their fact-finding mission and valuation exercise. In the presence of parties’ appointed experts, arbitrators often find themselves overwhelmed by the “battle of experts”. When the expert is appointed by the tribunal, the risk is to see the decision-making process taken over by the expert. Recently, arbitration practitioners have raised the question around the expert’s role (and the extent thereof) in the evidentiary proceedings in infrastructure disputes. When resolving complex technical issues, what is the responsibility of the tribunal in ensuring that the ultimate decision-making authority is not delegated to the expert? This panel will present in an oxford style debate the different viewpoints around this controversial theme.

• Sabrina Ainouz, Partner, Squire Patton Boggs, France
• Iryna Akulenka, Managing Consultant, HKA, United Arab Emirates; Vice Chair, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UAE Branch)
• Roberta Downey, Partner and Global Head of Construction & Engineering, Hogan Lovells, United Kingdom
• Andrew Mellor, Managing Director, Construction Advisory Services, JS Held, United Arab Emirates

Moderator

• Alex Bevan, Partner, International Arbitration practice and Head of the Abu Dhabi office, Shearman & Sterling, United Arab Emirates; Steering Committee Member, ICC UAE Commission on Arbitration & ADR

18.15 – 18.45 GST

14.15 – 14.45 CET

Valedictory session

Reflections on my journey: a Tribute to ICC 

• Sami Houerbi, Director for Eastern Mediterranean, Middle East & Africa, ICC International Court of Arbitration, Abu Dhabi/Tunis

Panel discussion

• Hamideh Barmakhshad, Dispute Resolution Expert, Iran Presidencial Centre for International Legal Affairs, Iran
• Nasreen Bulos, Regional General Counsel, HSBC Middle East, Turkey; Global Diversity Ambassador, HSBC
• Amani Khalifa, Partner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, United Arab Emirates
• Rekha Rangachari, Executive Director, New York International Arbitration Center (NYIAC), United States

Moderated by:
• Nassif Boumalhab, Lead Partner, Middle East Arbitration Group, Clyde & Co, United Arab Emirates

Closing remarks

• Antonia Birt, Partner, Curtis, United Arab Emirates; Co-chair, MENA Sub-committee, Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge