Arbitration tribunal secretary appointment without consent – will it be a ground for setting aside an Award? – UAE Jurisdiction.
* The use of administrative secretaries is a common feature of modern international arbitration, and the ICC has formalized their role in Appendix II.
* The UAE courts have taken a pragmatic and textualist approach to challenges based on their appointment.
* In Dubai Court of Appeal, Case No. 22/2023 (judgment dated 14 December 2023), a party sought to annul an award on the novel ground that the tribunal had appointed a secretary without its consent.
* The court dismissed this challenge in a straightforward manner.
* Its reasoning was based on a strict reading of the UAE’s primary arbitration legislation.
* The court held that the appointment of a tribunal secretary is not among the exclusive and exhaustive grounds for annulling an award as enumerated in Article 53 of the UAE Federal Arbitration Law.
* By finding that the objection did not fall within any of the statutory grounds for annulment, the court determined that the issue was not a matter that could invalidate the award.
* This approach provides assurance that UAE courts are unlikely to entertain challenges based on the use of tribunal secretaries in ICC arbitrations, particularly where their appointment adheres to the ICC’s own guidelines.
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