Author: Mehveş Erdem
Introduction
Dubai International Arbitration Center (“DIAC”) amended its Arbitration Rules on 25 February 2022 (“2022 Arbitration Rules”). The 2022 Arbitration Rules were published on 2 March 2022 and came into effect on 21 March 2022. The Rules will be applied to arbitrations that are filed after 21 March 2022; unless parties agree otherwise date of the arbitration agreement will not be considered. With these amendments, DIAC has taken an approach which is similar to other arbitral institutions and has followed the trend of introducing rules that are more in line with the present needs of users.
Main Changes
The 2022 Arbitration Rules made significant changes to the 2007 Arbitration Rules. These changes are mainly related to electronic filing, virtual proceedings, the seat of arbitration, jurisdiction of the tribunal, appointment of arbitrators, joinder, consolidation, replacing legal representatives, expedited proceedings, emergency interim relief, third party funding and costs.