Common Law Islands in the MENA Region: Are we heading towards a distortion of the applicable Law?

Presentation

In the MENA region, civil law and Islamic Sharia have long been the cornerstones of legal systems. Yet, in a notable shift over the past few years, common law principles are now weaving into the region’s legal landscape. States like the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have pioneered this move by founding special economic free zones (such as the DIFC, the ADGM, the QFC, and the QICDRC), which are governed by common law principles, each with its own common law court system. Saudi Arabia joins this trend with Neom and four economic zones embracing common law legislation. At the same time, in an unprecedented development, Saudi Arabia has recently promulgated a civil code, which reaffirms its legal system’s anchoring in a civil law tradition. This mixture of legal traditions creates a dynamic landscape, particularly noticeable in arbitrations across the region, with cases revealing varying (and sometimes contradictory) approaches that tribunals take with respect to the applicable law, making the choice of arbitrators and counsel ever more important. In this context, a number of questions arise: Can the emergence of these common law ‘islands’ in the MENA region and the predominance of common law-trained counsel and arbitrators lead to the distortion of the applicable law? How should states manage such interactions? What are the expectations? Insofar as international commercial disputes are concerned, are these shifts signaling the end of civil law in the GCC region?

Our panelists will delve into these issues and more in an engaging roundtable discussion followed by networking drinks from 11:30am.