UNCITRAL Model Law based statute governing arbitrations seated in the DIFC and the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards by the DIFC Courts, as amended in 2013 to clarify the Courts' jurisdiction over arbitration agreements and awards.
The Arbitration Law, DIFC Law No. 1 of 2008, governs arbitrations seated in the DIFC and the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards by the DIFC Courts wherever they were made. Made by the Ruler of Dubai, it repealed and replaced DIFC Law No. 8 of 2004 (Article 5) and follows the UNCITRAL Model Law. The copy read is the consolidated version of December 2013, whose cover records amendment by DIFC Law Amendment Law, DIFC Law No. 1 of 2013; the index cites the amending law as No. 6 of 2013, which the text does not support.
Article 7 sets the scope: the whole Law applies where the seat of the arbitration is the DIFC, while Articles 13, 14 and 15, Part 4 and the Schedule apply whatever the seat, and Article 13 applies where no seat has been fixed. An arbitration agreement must be in writing, which includes any recorded form and electronic communications (Article 12). Agreements to arbitrate future disputes under a DIFC employment contract or a consumer contract cannot be enforced against the employee or consumer without written consent given after the dispute arose, submission to the arbitration or a DIFC Court order (Article 12(2)). If a claim covered by an arbitration agreement is brought before the DIFC Court, the Court must dismiss or stay it on request unless the agreement is null and void, inoperative or incapable of being performed (Article 13). Proceedings are confidential unless the parties agree otherwise or the Court orders disclosure (Article 14), and a party may seek interim measures from a court (Article 15).
The parties choose an odd number of arbitrators, with one by default (Article 16); where appointment fails within thirty days the DIFC Court of First Instance appoints (Article 17). Absent agreement, a dispute governed by DIFC law is seated in the DIFC (Article 27). The tribunal applies the rules of law the parties chose and decides on equity only if expressly authorised (Article 35).
The only recourse against a DIFC-seated award is an application to the DIFC Court to set it aside within three months of receipt, on the Model Law grounds of incapacity or invalid agreement, lack of notice, excess of jurisdiction, irregular composition or procedure, non-arbitrability or conflict with UAE public policy (Article 41). Under Part 4 any award, wherever made, is recognised as binding in the DIFC and enforced on written application to the DIFC Court on production of the award and agreement (Article 42); refusal is limited to the grounds in Article 44. Recognition counts as ratification under Article 7 of the Judicial Authority Law, so a recognised award can be taken onward for enforcement in onshore Dubai (Article 42(4)). The Law remains in force as amended.
Parties to arbitration agreements who choose the DIFC as seat, including DIAC and other institutional arbitrations seated there; employees and consumers protected by Article 12(2); arbitral tribunals sitting in the DIFC; and any award creditor or debtor, wherever the award was made, seeking or resisting recognition and enforcement before the DIFC Courts.
| Article 7 | The Law applies where the seat of the arbitration is the DIFC; Articles 13, 14 and 15, Part 4 and the Schedule apply where the seat is elsewhere, and Article 13 applies where no seat has been designated or determined. |
| Article 12 | An arbitration agreement must be in writing, satisfied by any recorded form including electronic communications; a clause covering future disputes under a DIFC employment contract or a consumer contract is unenforceable against the employee or consumer without post-dispute written consent, submission or a Court order. |
| Article 13 | Where an action is brought before the DIFC Court in a matter subject to an arbitration agreement, the Court must dismiss or stay it if a party so requests no later than its first statement on the substance, unless the agreement is null and void, inoperative or incapable of being performed. |
| Articles 14–15 | All information relating to the arbitral proceedings is confidential unless the parties agree otherwise or the DIFC Court orders disclosure, and a party may seek interim measures of protection from a court before or during the arbitration. |
| Articles 16–17 | The parties fix an odd number of arbitrators, one by default; arbitrators may be of any nationality, and where a party or the co-arbitrators fail to appoint within thirty days the DIFC Court of First Instance makes the appointment on request. |
| Article 27 | The parties are free to agree the seat; absent agreement, a dispute governed by DIFC law is seated in the DIFC, and the tribunal may meet elsewhere for hearings, consultations or inspections. |
| Article 35 | The tribunal decides under the rules of law chosen by the parties, taken as substantive law without its conflict rules; absent a choice it applies the law its conflict rules indicate, and decides on equity and good conscience only if expressly authorised. |
| Article 41 | The only recourse against a DIFC-seated award is an application to the DIFC Court to set it aside within three months of receipt, on grounds of incapacity or invalid agreement, lack of notice, excess of jurisdiction, irregular composition or procedure, non-arbitrability, mandatory referral elsewhere, or conflict with UAE public policy. |
| Article 42 | An award, wherever made, is recognised as binding in the DIFC and enforced on written application to the DIFC Court with the original or certified award and agreement and certified translations; recognition includes ratification under Article 7 of the Judicial Authority Law for enforcement outside the DIFC. |
| Article 44 | Recognition or enforcement may be refused only on proof of incapacity or invalid agreement, lack of notice, excess of submission, irregular tribunal or procedure, or an award not yet binding or set aside at the seat, or where the DIFC Court finds non-arbitrability or conflict with UAE public policy. |
DIFC-seated arbitration, usually under DIAC rules, is the dispute mechanism we most often draft into our clients' DIFC shareholders' agreements, joint venture and services contracts, and this Law is its backbone. We make sure the clause records the DIFC seat under Article 27 so that the DIFC Court, not an onshore court, supervises the arbitration, and we carve employees and consumers out because Article 12(2) makes a pre-dispute clause unenforceable against them. For clients holding an award from abroad we use Part 4: the DIFC Court recognises it on the award and agreement alone, refuses only on the Article 44 grounds, and the recognition order can then be taken onshore under the Judicial Authority Law. We also warn clients of the three-month limit for a setting-aside application under Article 41. Court filings are made through DIFC-registered counsel we instruct.
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