The Qatar International Centre for Conciliation and Arbitration (QICCA) at Qatar Chamber recently organised a seminar on ‘The Role of Arbitration as a Means of Settling Disputes in Contracting and Construction’.
The seminar, which was held in the presence of QICCA board member for International Relations Sheikh Dr Thani bin Ali al-Thani, was delivered by Dr Mohamed Sameh Amr, dean of the Faculty of Law at Cairo University. He is also a professor of Public International Law at the Faculty of Law at Cairo University and founder and managing partner of Amr & Partners Law Firm.
Sheikh Dr Thani emphasised QICCA’s commitment to promoting the culture of arbitration, highlighting the centre’s efforts in organising seminars and workshops aimed at fostering the use of arbitration as an alternative method for resolving disputes.
Citing Qatar’s major infrastructure projects over the past 15 years, particularly the preparations and infrastructure needed for hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Sheikh Dr Thani said some challenges and disputes inevitably arose during the execution of these contracts, asserting that all contracts included the use of arbitration as an alternative means for resolving disputes.
During the seminar, Amr reviewed several topics, including the definition and types of construction contracts, the causes of disputes, efforts to overcome the difficulties of settling such disputes, the fundamental advantages of arbitration in construction contracts, the differences between arbitration and alternative dispute resolution methods, and the arbitration procedures in settling construction disputes.
He discussed the terms and challenges of multilateral arbitration in construction contracts, the procedures for implementing the multilateral arbitration clause, the possibility of combining mediation and arbitration systems in settling construction disputes, and the outcomes of combining mediation and arbitration systems in resolving construction disputes.
Amr emphasised that arbitration disputes in construction contracts are considered among the most common in arbitration, especially in countries witnessing a surge in development and infrastructure projects.
Elaborating on the advantages of arbitration in construction contracts, Amr said they include flexibility and speed of proceedings, confidentiality, the possibility to select arbitrators with expertise in the subject matter of the dispute, and the preservation of commercial relationships.
Regarding the nature of these disputes, Amr said they cannot be postponed and are often governed by the terms of a unified contracting contract for construction projects, such as FIDIC. Additionally, these disputes may involve multiple foreign parties and require significant capital.
Regarding the types of construction contracts, he said they are divided into engineering, procurement, and construction contracts (EPC Contracts), build-operate-transfer contracts (BOT), build-own-operate-transfer contracts (BOOT), and public-private partnership contracts (PPP).