- Day 1: 8:30 am – 5:00 pm
- Day 2: 9:00 am – 3:30 pm
Countries in the Gulf region and beyond have established “international” courts, primarily to deal with commercial law matters. These are hybrid courts in that they are domestic, on the one side, but English is used as the default language of proceedings, their bench is composed of judges from different countries around the world, on the other, while they invariably apply some version of the common law.
Prominent examples are the Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre (QICDRC), the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts, the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Courts, and the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC). The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) Court was also recently established by the Government of Kazakhstan within the Astana International Financial Centre. China also established the China International Commercial Court (CICC) within the Supreme People’s Court of China (SPC) with a seat in Shenzhen and in Xi’an.
A more recent trend is also starting to emerge, namely the creation of similar courts, or chambers, within existing court structures in Europe; these include the Brussels International Business Court (BIBC) , the Netherlands Commercial Court and the International Chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal.
The purpose of this conference is to discuss the rationale behind the creation of domestic “international” courts, and to analyse the relationship between these new fora and more established forms of dispute resolution, such as ordinary domestic courts, arbitration and mediation. The nature, purpose, applicable law, enforcement of judgments of the courts, and the various interplays among these diverse dispute resolution fora raise novel legal questions that remain unresolved.
The event will be held in English with simultaneous Arabic translation.
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