The Qatar International Centre for Conciliation and Arbitration (Qicca) has recorded a steady year-on-year increase in caseload of arbitration cases, mainly construction-related and service agreement disputes being handled by Qicca.
Qicca general counsel Dr Minas Khatchadourian told Gulf Times that the centre’s conciliation and arbitration rules provide a modern and efficient framework, “and are particularly appealing to lawyers and in-house counsel.”
Since 2012, he said Qicca has prepared a ‘multi-tier dispute resolution clause’, where the parties shall resort to mediation after the rise of a dispute, “and shall exert their best efforts in good faith to resolve their disagreement assisted by an experienced mediator.”
“Arbitration should only be used in case of the parties’ failure to reach a settlement agreement,” Khatchadourian pointed out.
Citing the centre’s achievements in the past years, Qicca board member for International Relations Sheikh Dr Thani bin Ali al-Thani said the centre was able to settle 10 commercial disputes worth QR466bn in 2018.
According to Sheikh Dr Thani, the centre received more than 22 arbitration requests last year, of which, 10 were settled. These included disputes related to contracts of construction, commercial agencies, insurance, communication, engineering, real estate, purchases, import and finances, he said.
Khatchadourian noted that in the next few months Qicca is expected to participate in a number of international conferences abroad, and shall talk about the recent trends of arbitration in Qatar.
Last year, Sheikh Dr Thani said Qicca participated in eight local and international seminars and conferences.
To stimulate the development of arbitration in Qatar, Sheikh Dr Thani said Qicca collaborated with Qatar University’s Centre for Continuing Education last year to launch a series of training programmes, including Qualification and Preparation of Arbitrators Programme, Setting up Companies and Commercial Agencies, Arbitration in Engineering Contracts, and Anti-Money Laundering.
Also, in July 2018, the World Council of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) appointed Sheikh Dr Thani to the ICC’s International Court of Arbitration.
As board member for International Co-operation, Sheikh Dr Thani has been in direct contact with the UN Commission on International Trade Law (Uncitral), and has participated in its working groups on different topics related to international trade. Sheikh Dr Thani also attended some of the Uncitral meetings in Vienna in 2017 and 2018.
“In the 2002 UN Convention, the state of Qatar has ratified the enforcement of the foreign arbitral awards, also known as the New York Convention. The new Singapore Convention encourages the use of mediation in the World.
“Therefore, since 2012 Qicca has prepared a set of mediation rules inspired from the Uncitral Model Law on International Commercial Conciliation of 2002,” Sheikh Dr Thani said.
