Arbitrator-court cooperation must for quick justice
There should be a better understanding between the judiciary and arbitration for quick delivery of justice as also to avoid piling up cases in the courts of law, according to a senior official of the GCC Commercial Arbitration Centre (GCCAC). He was speaking during the 22nd annual Gulf Commercial Arbitration Forum in Salalah on Tuesday.
The three-day forum was inaugurated by Sayyid Mohammed bin Sultan bin Hamoud al Busaidy, Minister of State and Governor of Dhofar, in presence of a large number of GCCAC participants, legal experts and government officials. A total of 21 speakers are to express their views through expert papers and presentations during three days.
Ahmed Najem Abdullah al Najem, Secretary-General of the GCC Commercial Arbitration Centre, said the agenda of this year’s forum was to create an atmosphere of understanding between the courts of the states and the arbitrators.
“Because an arbitrator has its own limitations… it does not have judicial rights and it cannot force an individual or an institution to do something even though it is logical. For the sake of smooth business operations in the event of disputes, we act and try to resolve the issue in the quickest possible manner,” he said.
He appreciated co-operation extended by the states in promoting arbitration but called for concerted efforts to make the tool more accessible to business clients.
The GCCAC, according to him, has international recognition and has tie-ups with major international arbitration centres in the world. When asked the advantages of going for arbitration instead of court of law, Ahmed Najem said: “Arbitration has the distinct advantage of being a speedy and confidential way of settlement of commercial disputes. The core principle here is to be conclusive and final and should not have legal force applied by the parties.”
“Here we are in a position to set a deadline of 40 or 60 days to settle the dispute which is the best suited to the private partners, who cannot afford to linger the dispute too long and lose money. Secondly, despite having dispute, the business relations remain intact and it also helps the judiciary by easing its burden of piling up cases,” he said.
Commenting on specialisation of the GCC Commercial Arbitration Centre, Ahmed Najem said: “We specialise in resolving intraGCC disputes. Suppose two Omani companies or partners have dispute, we suggest them to get it resolved locally. But if there is a dispute in which the parties are from two different GCC countries, we find our role more elaborate and relevant.” Ahmed Najem said the roles of the GCC Commercial Arbitration Centre were quite important. “Europe and America were marketing the arbitration way of resolving commercial disputes 50 to 60 years ago and now they have gone further with ways like mediation, conciliation to resolve the disputes.”
But in our region we are still trying to enhance our presence with conferences and workshops. “Hence our biggest role is to popularise this mode and reap maximum benefit out of it.” Oman Establishment for Press, Publication and Advertising (OEPPA), publishers of Oman Daily Observer and Arabic daily Oman, is the media sponsor of the event.