Lawyers in Abu Dhabi

Legal Rule

Under normal circumstances the general rule is that an arbitration award shall be valid only if signed on all pages by the arbitrator. However, the exception to this rule is that the arbitrator’s signature on the last page alone of the award shall suffice provided the last page contains a part of the reasoning of the award. It’s not always necessary to engage a lawyer in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, but there are some situations where it’s unavoidable, like in arbitration.

The significance of the rule is that by countersigning on all pages of the final award the arbitrator(s) provide conclusive evidence that the award has been issued by the arbitrator(s). However, if the last page includes part of the reasoning behind the decision/final award, the validity of the signature on the last page shall extend to the full award.

Facts:

To force the respondent to pay the awarded amount of 20.2 million AED and an extra amount of 710,700 AED as conditional interest, the claimant in the case filed a civil lawsuit asking for ratification of an arbitration award made by the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC).The claimant’s motion was granted, and the Court of First Instance then confirmed the verdict.

The Court of Appeal overturned the Court of First Instance’s ruling after the respondent in the case appealed the court’s decision. The Claimant subsequently filed an appeal with the Court of Cassation, asking it to uphold the CFI ruling rather than reverse the Court of Appeal Ruling.

Reasons for Appeal:

The claimant made the assertion that the Court of Appeal decided to set aside the ruling because, with the exception of the last page, all pages of the arbitration award were not signed by the arbitrator. The 24-Page award was preceded by 23 pages that explained all of the award’s justification.

Cassation Court Ruling:

The court decided that an arbitration award would only be valid if it was fully signed by the arbitrator in accordance with Article 212/5 of the UAE’s Civil Procedures Law. The arbitrator’s final award must include both the actual award as well as the justification for the decision.

Learn more about Civil Procedure Law by the Abu Dhabi Lawyers

The sole exception to the aforementioned requirement is if a portion of the award’s justification is included on the award’s final page. Public order is supported by this rule. In light of this, the court noted in its ruling that the arbitrator’s signature does not appear on every page of the award, indicating a discrepancy between them.

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