So You Think You Can Arbitrate?

Analysis

This article addresses situations where there is an arbitration agreement but the dispute is reviewed by the national courts instead of being referred to arbitration or the arbitration clause is contested. Minor issues could cause an unwanted outcome contrary to what the parties agreed to initially.

We shed some light on some of said issues, particularly, (i) the event of not signing part of the agreement; (ii) not calling upon the arbitration clause before the national courts and (iii) the absence of a special delegation to the signatory of an arbitration agreement, as follows:

I. Not signing part of the Agreement where the arbitral clause is embedded:

In a recent case handled by Al Tamimi & Company in Abu Dhabi, the Claimant filed a case against the Defendant before the Abu Dhabi Courts disputing some issues in the agreement they previously concluded and requesting the appointment of an expert to evidence the Defendant's alleged defaults.

The disputed agreement was a set of documents divided into two parts attached to each other, namely, part 1 and part 2.