Arbitration in Dubai has grown considerably in recent times and
is a process increasingly used by businesses in Dubai to resolve
their disputes. Despite this growth in arbitration, however, the
enforcement of arbitration awards in the UAE has a troubled
history, primarily due to unclear domestic arbitration law. The UAE
reached perhaps its lowest point in this respect in 2004, when the
UAE Court annulled a domestic arbitration award on the ground that
some of the witnesses in the arbitration had not been sworn in the
manner required by UAE law for Court hearings.
Recently, steps have been taken to reform the process of the
enforcement of arbitration awards in the UAE. In 2006, the UAE
ratified the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement
of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958 ("New York Convention")
and a new UAE federal arbitration law is currently being drafted.
It is hoped the latter will replace and modernise some of the
existing provisions in the domestic
