In order to improve the Egyptian status with regards to the international arbitration disputes, in which the state is party of whether wholly or partially, the Egyptian Prime Minister has issued a new Decree No. 2592 of the year 2020 (hereinafter referred to as the “New Decree”), which fundamentally and ambiguously amended the provisions of the Decree No. 1062 of the year 2019 on organizing the Supreme Commission to study and provide opinion on international arbitration cases, in which the state is part of.
Read moreEgypt’s highest court spearheads arbitration-friendly stance by recognising progressive arbitration principles and practices
In a landmark judgment issued on 27 October 2020, Egypt’s Court of Cassation (the “Court”) upheld a decision of the Cairo Court of Appeal refusing to set aside an award issued by the Cairo Regional Center for International Commercial Arbitration (“CRCICA”).
In what is likely to become a leading authority on arbitration principles and practices in Egypt, the judgment asserts the Egyptian courts’ progressive stance towards arbitration. In particular, the Court broke new ground by (i) recognising and detailing the legal test for the principle of estoppel under Egyptian law, even in the absence of express legal provisions to that effect, (ii) affirming the parties’ general right under Egyptian law to appoint non-lawyers to represent them in arbitration proceedings, and (iii) hinting at the compatibility of virtual hearings with Egyptian law.
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