Ajman: His Highness Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ajman, issued Emiri Decree No. (4) of 2024 regarding the Ajman Arbitration Center, with the aim of providing alternative means of dispute resolution to serve the financial and business community in the emirate.

 Under the provisions of the decree, the "Ajman Center for commercial conciliation and arbitration" established at the Ajman Chamber is reorganized to have the legal personality and legal capacity necessary to achieve its objectives and exercise the competencies and powers assigned to it. The center aims to provide alternative means of dispute resolution to serve the financial and business community, raise awareness in the field of arbitration and its importance, and qualify national competencies in the field of arbitration.

The decree specified the arbitration rules and procedures, where the arbitration rules and procedures adopted by the chamber's Board of directors are applied to arbitration cases, taking into account the legislation in force in the emirate, and the parties ' choice of the center to consider the dispute is considered as their consent to apply the arbitration rules and procedures approved by the center.

The decree stipulated that the center, in order to achieve its objectives, shall carry out several tasks and powers, including providing all services related to settling civil and commercial disputes through arbitration, establishing rules and procedures for arbitration and amicable settlement followed by arbitration bodies formed by the center, as well as the fees and expenses of arbitrators, and to be approved by the Council. It also involves developing all regulations, systems, and decisions related to the management of the center, determining the fees it charges for the services it provides, and getting them approved by the Council.

The decree assigned the center to select arbitrators and form arbitration panels according to the rules and procedures approved by the center, prepare lists of arbitrators and experts approved by the center, set standards and conditions for registration in those lists, conduct amicable settlements between parties to the dispute to reach a settlement between them according to the rules and procedures approved by the center, and provide support services to arbitration bodies and parties to the dispute, ensuring optimal management of arbitration.

The center is responsible for organizing seminars, conferences, and specialized training courses in the field of arbitration and other alternative means of dispute resolution, and representing the Chamber at Arab and international arbitration centers and chambers in meetings, agreements, activities, and conferences related to the center’s competencies.

 The decree specified for the center a board of trustees, consisting of a chairman, vice-chairman and a number of members with experience and competence in the field of Arbitration, Law and any other related fields, no more than seven members, including the chairman of the board of trustees and his deputy, for a renewable four-year term, and they are appointed and replaced by a decision issued by the chairman of the board of Directors of the chamber after the approval of the board of directors, for a renewable four-year term.

According to the decree, the Board of Trustees is responsible for approving the general policy of the center and its strategic, development, and operational plans, submitting them to the Council for approval, and supervising their implementation after approval. It also approves the rules and procedures of arbitration, and the regulations organizing alternative means of dispute resolution applied at the center, and submits them to the Council for approval.

It is also responsible for approving all regulations, systems, and decisions related to the management of the center, and the fees it charges for the services it provides, approving the center’s annual budget project and its annual final account project, and approving the lists of arbitrators and experts accredited by the center, as well as the criteria and conditions for accepting applicants for registration in those lists.

The Board of Trustees is also assigned to propose opening branches or offices for the center inside or outside the emirate, approve periodic reports on the center’s work and activities, and approve the annual report on the center’s activities and achievements.

The decree stipulated that the Board of Trustees and the Secretary-General of the center, when exercising their tasks, powers, and arbitration rules approved by the center, shall adhere to neutrality, independence, and non-interference in disputes considered before the arbitrators. It also stated that the arbitrators, when performing tasks related to considering and deciding on arbitration cases, are considered independent from the center, and none of them is subject to any instructions that affect their performance of their tasks in those cases.

The decree emphasized that all agreements concluded before the date of implementation of this decree to resort to arbitration in the center are considered valid and effective, unless the parties agree otherwise. It also stated that the arbitration bodies at the center shall continue, after the date of implementation of this decree, to consider and decide on all arbitration cases before them without interruption, in accordance with the rules and procedures approved by the center before the issuance of this decree, unless the arbitration parties agree otherwise.