Is Online Arbitration available under the UAE Law?
Is Online Arbitration available under the UAE Law? Online arbitration covers all stages of arbitration, including the exchange of statements, the several types of hearing and notification. The new UAE Arbitration Law, Federal Law 6/2018), expanded the use of electronic technology in Arbitration. It starts with the use of electronic emails for the purpose of writing the arbitration agreement (Article 7/2). Arbitrators tend to accept electronic submissions alone with no need for print copies. In order to avoid any unfavourable legal consequences, they tend to get the parties to agree on this approach and/or include it in their first procedural order. Personally, I prefer electronic copies of statements as I can access them anywhere and at any time. I can also search through the documents easily and swiftly. As for the online hearing, the new law made it clear that online hearing is possible unless it is precluded by the agreement of the parties. Article (28/2) states that “Un