Sustainable Horizons: The Saudi Arabian Vision

We are excited to share the latest edition of the Law Update, beautifully and appropriately titled “Sustainable Horizons: The Saudi Arabian Vision.” Giving special honor to the Kingdom’s 2030 vision, this update focuses on a collection of both informative and inspiring articles.

For those in construction, you can learn about how the tendering environment impacts risk-pricing for contractors, the updates on the legal framework of the construction industry and how contractors can protect themselves against financial difficulties.

There is good news too from the kingdom’s banking sector, from which the practice of “Open Banking” is being pushed for! But what is open banking? We’re answering that too.

Also . . . Are there any women trail blazers in Saudi Arabia you can name? We’ll help you with that. We cover how the Middle East has been making strides in empowering women in the entrepreneurial space,most notably in STEM fields.

Read the full edition

The leading law firm in the Middle East & North Africa region.

Law Firm
/
Insights
/
Law Update
/
April 2014
/
Opting into the Jurisdiction of the DIFC Court

Opting into the Jurisdiction of the DIFC Court

Muhammad Mahmood - Associate - Litigation

Dubai International Financial Centre

April 2014

This law amended Dubai Law No. 12 of 2004, which established the DIFC Courts and set out the original gateways granting exclusive jurisdiction to them. The parties in this case initially agreed that the courts of the Claimant’s country would have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising under or in connection with the agreement between them. Subsequently, however, the parties decided to confer jurisdiction on the DIFC Courts by way of a written agreement.

In the DIFC Courts’ short history, this case represents a further example of its expanding jurisdiction. Prior to Law No. 16, the DIFC Courts could only assume jurisdiction over matters that had a direct connection to the DIFC, as set out in Law No. 12. Broadly, this connection had to involve the subject matter of the dispute, the location of the parties or the transaction concluded. Law No. 12, as amended by Law No. 16, opened the gates to potential cases without such a jurisdictional connection, or gateway. It granted the DIFC Courts jurisdiction over cases “if submitted thereto by the agreement of the parties in writing whether before or after the dispute”. As seen in the SPX Case, the effect of this opt-in provision is to allow the DIFC Courts to hear disputes between parties located anywhere in the world where there is no other jurisdictional connection with the DIFC.

Although the decision to opt into the jurisdiction of DIFC Courts should take account of a number of factors, the DIFC Courts have become known for offering several advantages over other courts in the region. Their advantages include: an international judiciary with significant experience in sophisticated commercial disputes; the availability of an immediate/summary judgment; and the opportunity to recover most of a successful party’s legal costs. As a firm, Al Tamimi shares Justice Sir David Steel’s sentiment expressed in the SPX Case that it is “legitimate to hope that this example is the first of many where parties take advantage of the extended jurisdiction of the Court”.