Arbitration glossary

Arbitration and mediation terms in Arabic and English, each with a short definition and a reference to the article of the rules that defines it.

From the arbitration agreement and the submission agreement to the award, the enforcement order and the action for annulment: what the rules and the law mean by each word.

Arbitration (التحكيم): A way of settling a dispute outside the courts: the parties agree to refer their disagreement to an arbitrator or tribunal whose decision binds them. The Centre's Rules apply to the arbitration of disputes relating to economic activities where one or all of the parties are merchants. Article 2 of the Arbitration Rules
Institutional arbitration (التحكيم المؤسسي): Arbitration administered by a standing institution such as this Centre under published rules: it receives the request, constitutes the tribunal, handles communications and costs and watches the time limits. Its counterpart is ad hoc arbitration, which the parties and tribunal run themselves. Article 2 of the Arbitration Rules
Ad hoc arbitration (التحكيم الحر): Arbitration run without an administering institution: the parties and the tribunal organise the procedure, the time limits and the fees themselves, and turn to the courts when they disagree over appointments. This Centre does not administer ad hoc arbitration, though it may be named as appointing authority in one.
Arbitration agreement (اتفاق التحكيم): The written agreement by which the parties refer to arbitration a dispute that has arisen or may arise between them, whether as an arbitration clause in a contract or as a separate agreement. A true copy of it forms part of the Request for Arbitration. Article 1 of the Arbitration Rules
Arbitration clause (شرط التحكيم): A clause in a contract referring any future dispute under it to arbitration. The clause is treated as independent of the contract's other terms, so a finding that the contract is void does not void the arbitration clause. Article 7 of the Arbitration Rules
Submission agreement (مشارطة التحكيم): A separate arbitration agreement concluded after the dispute has arisen, in which the parties define the matter in dispute and refer it to arbitration. Where there is no arbitration clause, the submission agreement stands in place of the terms of reference. Article 19 of the Arbitration Rules
Claimant (المحتكِم (المدعي)): The party requesting arbitration: the one who files the Request for Arbitration with the Centre, pays its registration fee and sets out the claims and the amounts sought. Article 1 of the Arbitration Rules
Respondent (المحتكَم عليه (المدعى عليه)): The party against whom arbitration is requested: the one notified of the Request who files an Answer with the Centre within the prescribed period, and who may attach a counterclaim to it. Article 1 of the Arbitration Rules
Party representative (ممثل الطرف): The lawyer or agent who appears for a party and receives notifications on its behalf. Named with an address in the Request for Arbitration, and attending hearings under a power of attorney. Article 4 of the Arbitration Rules
Arbitrator (المحكّم): Any person on the Centre's list of accredited arbitrators, accredited by the Centre, or holding an arbitration licence from the Ministry of Justice. An arbitrator must be impartial and remain independent of the parties. Article 1 of the Arbitration Rules
Arbitral tribunal (هيئة التحكيم): The body charged with deciding the dispute, whether a sole arbitrator or several members. The Centre's Director constitutes it, having regard to the difficulty and value of the dispute and the arbitrators the parties propose. Article 1 of the Arbitration Rules
Sole arbitrator (المحكّم المنفرد): A tribunal of one member who decides the dispute alone. The usual choice for disputes of lower value or complexity, being quicker and less costly than a three-member tribunal. Article 9 of the Arbitration Rules
Presiding arbitrator (المحكّم المرجِّح): Where there are several arbitrators the final award is made unanimously, failing that by majority, and failing that by the presiding arbitrator the Centre designates, a fact the award must state. Article 31 of the Arbitration Rules
Appointing authority (سلطة التعيين): The body that appoints arbitrators, or resolves a dispute over their appointment, when the parties fail to do so. In the Centre's arbitration the Director constitutes the tribunal, and the Centre's decision on appointment, confirmation and replacement is final. Article 8 of the Arbitration Rules
List of accredited arbitrators (قائمة المحكمين المعتمدين): The roster the Centre keeps of the arbitrators and mediators it has accredited, from which tribunals are constituted. Admission is by application to the Centre under the conditions of its internal regulations. Article 8 of the Arbitration Rules
Independence and impartiality (الاستقلال والحياد): Two duties of every arbitrator: independence is the absence of any relationship or interest linking the arbitrator to a party; impartiality is the absence of bias in judgment. Circumstances raising doubts about either open the way to a challenge. Article 8 of the Arbitration Rules
Disclosure (الإفصاح): The duty of a nominated arbitrator to reveal to the parties and the Centre, before accepting and throughout the mandate, any circumstance that could raise justifiable doubts about impartiality or independence: past work, kinship, a financial interest. Disclosing is not withdrawing; it is what lets the parties judge.
Challenge of an arbitrator (ردّ المحكّم): A party's application to remove an arbitrator where circumstances raise doubts about impartiality or independence. Sent in writing with reasons within fifteen days of the tribunal's constitution or of learning of the circumstances; the Centre decides it if the arbitrator does not withdraw. Article 12 of the Arbitration Rules
Replacement of an arbitrator (استبدال المحكّم): Appointing a substitute when an arbitrator dies, withdraws, is successfully challenged or cannot perform the mandate. Once reconstituted, the tribunal may decide, after hearing the parties, to repeat all or part of the earlier proceedings. Article 11 of the Arbitration Rules
Seat of arbitration (مقر التحكيم): The place where the arbitration is legally located and where the award is deemed made, which fixes the court that supervises the award. In domestic arbitration the seat is the Centre's premises; the tribunal may hold hearings elsewhere without the seat changing. Article 15 of the Arbitration Rules
Language of the arbitration (لغة التحكيم): The language of the submissions, hearings and award. Arabic in domestic arbitration; in international arbitration whatever the parties agree, failing which the tribunal decides with regard to the language of the contract, and may admit documents in another language or order their translation. Article 16 of the Arbitration Rules
Applicable law (القانون واجب التطبيق): The substantive rules the tribunal applies to the merits of the dispute, those the parties chose or, failing a choice, those the tribunal finds most appropriate, alongside the procedural rules that govern the conduct of the arbitration. Article 18 of the Arbitration Rules
Request for Arbitration (طلب التحكيم): The document by which the claimant opens the arbitration at the Centre: the parties and their representatives, a copy of the arbitration agreement, the nature and basis of the dispute, the claims and amounts, and observations on the number and choice of arbitrators. The registration fee accompanies it. Article 4 of the Arbitration Rules
Answer to the Request (الرد على الطلب): The respondent's reply to the Request, filed with the Centre within seven working days of receiving it, giving its comments on the dispute, its response to the claim, any objection to the arbitration agreement and its observations on the tribunal's composition. Article 5 of the Arbitration Rules
Counterclaim (الطلب المقابل): A claim the respondent brings against the claimant within the same arbitration, attached to the Answer with a description of the dispute it arises from, the amounts and the relevant agreements. The claimant may reply to it within fifteen days of receipt. Article 5 of the Arbitration Rules
Statement of claim (بيان (لائحة) الدعوى): The submission in which the claimant sets out before the tribunal the facts, claims and evidence of its case in full once the tribunal is constituted. The Request for Arbitration may be treated as the statement of claim if it expressly says so. Article 20 of the Arbitration Rules
Statement of defence (بيان الدفاع (المذكرة الجوابية)): The respondent's reply to the statement of claim before the tribunal. A plea of lack of jurisdiction must be raised no later than the filing of this statement. Article 21 of the Arbitration Rules
Plea of lack of jurisdiction (الدفع بعدم الاختصاص): A party's objection that the tribunal has no authority to decide the dispute, because there is no arbitration agreement, it is invalid, or the matter falls outside it. Raised no later than the statement of defence; the tribunal may rule on it as a preliminary question or leave it to the final award. Article 7 of the Arbitration Rules
Competence-competence (اختصاص الهيئة بالفصل في اختصاصها): The principle that the arbitral tribunal itself has the power to rule on its own jurisdiction, including any objection to the existence or validity of the arbitration agreement, so that a party's mere denial does not halt the arbitration. Article 7 of the Arbitration Rules
Terms of reference (وثيقة المهمة): A document the tribunal draws up on receiving the file and signs with the parties: the parties and their addresses for notices, a summary of the claims and their value, the issues to be decided, the tribunal's members and the place of arbitration. The time limit for the award runs from its signature. Article 19 of the Arbitration Rules
Preliminary meeting (الاجتماع التمهيدي): The first meeting between the tribunal and the parties after the file is transmitted, at which the terms of reference are settled and the procedural timetable agreed. It may be held in person or on the documents and the parties' latest submissions. Article 19 of the Arbitration Rules
Hearing (جلسة الاستماع): A session the tribunal holds to hear the parties, their witnesses and experts. Dates are fixed with the Director and notified in advance; hearings are confidential unless the parties agree otherwise in writing, and their proceedings are minuted. Article 24 of the Arbitration Rules
Default of appearance (التخلّف عن الحضور): A party's absence, without acceptable excuse, from a hearing duly notified to it. It does not stop the proceedings: the tribunal may hold the hearing and continue, and the award is made against the absent party as if it had appeared. Article 24 of the Arbitration Rules
Witness (الشاهد): A person who testifies before the tribunal to facts within their knowledge. A party files the names of its witnesses and the facts they will speak to before the hearing; the witness takes an oath, each party may question them under the tribunal's supervision, and they may be heard by video conference. Article 25 of the Arbitration Rules
Expert (الخبير): A person with technical expertise whom the tribunal appoints, after consulting the parties, to report on a question requiring special knowledge, whether accounting, engineering or otherwise. The report goes to the parties for comment and may be examined at a hearing; the tribunal fixes the expert's fee and who bears it. Article 26 of the Arbitration Rules
Interim and conservatory measures (التدابير المؤقتة والتحفظية): Urgent steps the tribunal orders at a party's request to protect a right or an asset until the award, such as preserving goods or freezing a disposal, and it may require security from the applicant. Seeking a similar measure from a court is not a waiver of the arbitration agreement. Article 27 of the Arbitration Rules
Emergency arbitrator (المحكّم الطارئ): A mechanism in some institutions' rules that appoints a temporary arbitrator to decide an urgent application before the tribunal is constituted. The Centre's published Rules make no provision for one; before the tribunal is constituted the parties may apply to the competent court for interim measures under article 27.
Closure of the proceedings (إقفال باب المرافعة): The tribunal's declaration that the case is ready for decision once final pleadings are in; deliberation follows and no further submissions or challenges are admitted. The tribunal may reopen the proceedings for exceptional circumstances before the award is made. Article 28 of the Arbitration Rules
Waiver of the right to object (التنازل عن حق الاعتراض): The rule that a party who knows of a departure from the Rules or from a tribunal order, yet proceeds with the arbitration without promptly objecting, is treated as having finally waived its right to object later. Article 29 of the Arbitration Rules
Award (الحكم (قرار التحكيم)): The decision by which the tribunal settles the dispute. Made in writing, with reasons, signed by the tribunal's members; final and binding on the parties, and open to challenge only on the grounds in the arbitration law in force. Article 31 of the Arbitration Rules
Partial award (الحكم الجزئي): An award that finally decides part of the dispute, such as jurisdiction or one of the claims, leaving the rest for a later award. The tribunal may make preliminary, interim, partial or final awards. Article 31 of the Arbitration Rules
Consent award (الحكم بالتراضي): Where the parties settle after the file has gone to the tribunal, the settlement is recorded as an award made by agreement if they ask and the tribunal consents, so that their bargain carries the force of an award. Article 31 of the Arbitration Rules
Time limit for the award (مدة إصدار الحكم): Three months from the signature of the terms of reference or submission agreement by the parties and the tribunal, unless the parties agree or the tribunal decides otherwise; the tribunal may extend it by no more than three further months. Periods of suspension are not counted. Article 30 of the Arbitration Rules
Interpretation of the award (تفسير الحكم): A written request by a party, within thirty days of receiving the award, to clarify an obscurity in it. If the tribunal finds the request justified it gives the interpretation within fifteen days as an additional award forming part of the final award. Article 34 of the Arbitration Rules
Correction of the award (تصحيح الحكم): Putting right an arithmetical, clerical or material error in the award without touching its substance. Any party may request it within thirty days, and the tribunal may make it of its own motion within fifteen days of the award. Article 34 of the Arbitration Rules
Additional award (القرار الإضافي): An award the tribunal makes on a claim presented in the proceedings but omitted from the award, at a party's request within thirty days of receiving the award and after hearing the parties; it forms part of the final award. Article 34 of the Arbitration Rules
Exequatur (ratification of the award) (الصيغة التنفيذية (تصديق الحكم)): The order of the competent court ratifying the award, by which it gains the force of a court judgment and becomes enforceable by compulsion. The Centre assists in depositing or ratifying the award before the competent court where needed. (Guidance; governed by the arbitration law in force.)
Action for annulment (دعوى البطلان): The only route for challenging an award before the courts, on grounds exhaustively listed in the arbitration law in force, such as the absence of an arbitration agreement, a defect in the tribunal's constitution or a breach of the right to be heard, and never a re-hearing of the merits. (Guidance.) Article 31 of the Arbitration Rules
Original exhibits (المبرزات الأصلية): The original documents a party lodged in the arbitration file. Their owner may ask for them back within six months of the award, and a true copy is kept in the award's file. Article 33 of the Arbitration Rules
Confidentiality (السرية): Hearings are confidential unless the parties agree otherwise in writing, and the award or any part of it may be published only with the parties' written consent. Information the parties supply is disclosed only with their consent or at the request of the competent judicial authority. Article 32 of the Arbitration Rules
Mediation (الوساطة): An amicable process in which a neutral mediator helps the parties negotiate and reach a settlement they accept, without imposing one. What is agreed is recorded in a settlement agreement; in labour cases the Centre mediates between the worker and the employer towards a fair settlement. Article 35 of the Arbitration Rules
Conciliation (التوفيق): An amicable process close to mediation in which the conciliator takes a more active part, studying the dispute and proposing a solution the parties may accept or reject. Nothing binds the parties except what they sign.
Settlement agreement (اتفاق التسوية): The written agreement the parties sign at the end of a successful mediation or conciliation, setting out what each has undertaken. A binding contract between its signatories; where an arbitration is pending it may be recorded as a consent award.
Mediator (الوسيط): A neutral person accredited by the Centre who conducts mediation sessions and helps the parties reach understanding without any power to decide between them. What a party tells the mediator in a private session stays confidential unless that party permits otherwise.
Notification (التبليغ): Delivering a document or decision to a party in a way that counts. A notification is valid if delivered to the addressee in person or to their representative, at their place of business or residence, to their postal or electronic address, or to the WhatsApp number adopted in the arbitration agreement. Article 3 of the Arbitration Rules
Time limits (المهلة (المدد)): The periods the Rules or the tribunal set for taking a step: filing the Answer, lodging a challenge, requesting interpretation. They run from the day of receipt; if the last day is an official holiday the period extends to the next working day, and holidays falling within it count. Article 3 of the Arbitration Rules
Working days (أيام العمل): The days on which the Centre is open, excluding weekly rest days and official holidays. Some periods are counted in working days, such as the seven working days for the Answer, others in calendar days; the Centre publishes its holiday calendar on the platform. Article 5 of the Arbitration Rules
Award in the presence of the parties (الحكم الحضوري): An award pronounced with the parties present. If a party stays away despite notice, the award is made at the hearing and treated as made in that party's presence, so its absence gives it no ground of challenge, and the Centre serves it. Article 31 of the Arbitration Rules
Registration fee (رسم التسجيل): The fee the claimant pays when lodging the Request for Arbitration, under the schedule in force on the day of filing. Non-refundable, and the Request is not sent to the respondent until it is paid. Article 4 of the Arbitration Rules
Administrative fees (الرسوم الإدارية): What the Centre charges for administering the proceeding: registration, correspondence, secretarial work and the organisation of hearings, under the schedule published on the fees page. Distinct from the tribunal's fees, which go to the arbitrators.
Tribunal fees (أتعاب الهيئة): The amounts paid to the arbitrators for their work, under a fee schedule adopted with the Centre's internal regulations. Each party receives its copy of the award on payment of the costs of arbitration and the fees to the Centre. Article 31 of the Arbitration Rules
Advance on costs (مقدَّم النفقات): A sum each party deposits with the Centre at the outset to cover the estimated costs of the arbitration; supplementary amounts may be called for during the proceedings. After the award the Director renders an account of deposits and expenses, refunding any surplus or collecting the balance.