Ontario Court Recognizes Dubai Arbitral Award Despite Institutional Shake-Up

In InFrontier AF LP v. Rahmani, the Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed an appeal from an order enforcing a foreign arbitral award made in Dubai. The appellant challenged recognition and enforcement on the basis that the wrong procedural rules had been applied to the arbitration and that the lower court was wrong to consider Dubai law to determine if the correct rules had been applied. The Court of Appeal upheld the lower court’s finding that the parties’ arbitration clause permitted the agreed-upon rules to be amended over time and that the court was entitled to consider Dubai law to determine if an amendment to the rules had been effected, as it was the jurisdiction with authority over the institution that enacted the rules.