ABCK-AmCham Kuwait, a non-profit organization held a webinar recently in collaboration with Al Tamimi & Company on the topic of ‘GCC-Regional Arbitration Updates’ with the support of AmCham Abu Dhabi and AmCham Bahrain.
The webinar, which covered the crucial role that international arbitration plays in resolving cross-border commercial disputes for companies operating in Kuwait and the broader Middle East, was opened by Partner and Head of Arbitration at Al Tamimi & Company, Thomas R. Snider.
He began by explaining that arbitration is a form of dispute resolution based on consent among all disputing parties to resolve disagreements through mediation of neutral, non-governmental decision-makers chosen by or for the parties. Arbitration produces a binding award, which is capable of international enforcement through national courts and is more readily enforceable internationally than a court judgment.
This was followed by Partner and Head of Kuwait Office at Al Tamimi & Company, Philip Kotsis, speaking about Kuwait’s specific considerations, noted that as a signatory, Kuwait courts regularly enforce the agreement of the parties to arbitrate and Kuwait courts retain jurisdiction under certain circumstances. However, agreeing to arbitration was not considered a normal act/decision under the Kuwait Companies Law, and that proper corporate authorization had to be obtained to include an arbitration clause. He added that Kuwait would recognize and enforce arbitration awards only if the procedural requirements were met.
The webinar closed with a Q&A session between the participants and the speakers.