The Spread of Arbitration Centres in Egypt: Opportunities and Challenges — How Their Number Affects the Quality and Enforcement of Awards

Introduction

Arbitration is one of the most important alternative means of resolving disputes. It gives the parties considerable freedom in choosing the arbitrators and the procedure, and it resolves disputes faster than the ordinary courts. In recent years Egypt has seen a marked growth in the number of arbitration centres, which raises fundamental questions about the effect of this growth on the quality of arbitral awards, on whether they can be enforced and on obtaining an enforcement order.

This article analyses the spread of arbitration centres in Egypt and reviews its advantages and drawbacks, focusing on its legal and practical effect on the enforcement of arbitral awards and on obtaining an enforcement order.

The legal framework for arbitration in Egypt

Egyptian Arbitration Law No. 27 of 1994 governs arbitration in civil and commercial matters and is among the most important Arab laws in this field. The Egyptian legislature adopted the UNCITRAL rules on arbitration, with some amendments to suit the Egyptian legal environment.

Conditions for enforcing arbitral awards

Under Article 58 of the Egyptian Arbitration Law, an order to enforce an arbitral award may be made only after several basic conditions have been verified: first, that the award does not conflict with an earlier judgment of the Egyptian courts on the subject matter of the dispute; second, that it contains nothing contrary to public policy in Egypt; and third, that it has been properly served on the party against whom it was made.

Advantages of the spread of arbitration centres

The growth of arbitration centres in Egypt brings many benefits to litigants and to the legal community:

• Relieving the courts: arbitration reduces the number of cases before the ordinary courts, leaving the judiciary free to concentrate on more complex cases.
• Faster resolution of disputes: arbitration centres offer quicker ways of resolving disputes than ordinary court proceedings.
• Specialisation and expertise: specialist centres make it possible to appoint arbitrators experienced in particular fields, such as engineering, maritime and financial arbitration.
• Procedural flexibility: the parties are free to choose the procedure and rules that apply to the dispute.
• Confidentiality: arbitration proceedings keep the parties' commercial and financial information confidential.
• Encouraging investment: reliable arbitration centres help to attract foreign investment.

Drawbacks and challenges of the spread of arbitration centres

Despite these many benefits, the unregulated spread of arbitration centres brings fundamental challenges:

• Sham centres: sham arbitration centres have appeared that award certificates and the title "International Arbitration Consultant" with no real legal value, defrauding young people and others who deal with them.
• No uniform quality standards: centres vary in competence and professionalism, which affects the quality of the awards they issue.
• Weak oversight: there is no effective supervisory body to oversee these centres and make sure they meet professional standards.
• Enforcement problems: awards issued by some centres may have difficulty obtaining an enforcement order because of procedural defects.
• Penalties that do not deter: the legal penalties for sham centres are weak