Daman Recap wins dispute with Oger in Dubai Courts

Daman Real Estate Capital Partners (Daman Recap) won a favourable judgment in the Dubai Courts of Appeal in its long-running dispute with contractor Oger Dubai, relating to the Burj Daman real estate project in Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

Representatives of Daman Recap, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) set up for the development of the 3.2 million square foot project, said the Court of Appeal declared null and void a Dh965 million arbitral award obtained by Oger against Daman Recap in Dubai International Arbitration Centre in 2015.

Oger Dubai brought an arbitration against Daman Recap after it was dismissed as developer of the 65-storey development in 2012 for what the SPV described as “non-performance of its contract citing ‘culpable delay’ in completing the project”.

The construction firm brought a case the following year against Daman Recap, based in DIFC, before the free zone’s courts, demanding enforcement of the arbitral award.

Daman Recap at the same time appealed to have the arbitral award annulled in the Dubai Courts.

Dubai’s Judicial Tribunal for the Dubai Courts and DIFC Courts ruled last year the case should be heard exclusively in the Dubai Courts and that the DIFC Courts should “cease from entertaining the case”.

“Daman Recap is satisfied that after a long and costly legal process, justice has prevailed, and that the mechanisms put in place by the Government of Dubai to regulate the relationship between the Emirate’s two complimentary judicial systems have worked well to protect the rights of all affected parties,” a representative said yesterday.

It is unclear whether Oger has decided to refer the judgment of the Dubai Courts of Appeal, which was made in October but has only recently come to light, to the emirate’s Court of Cassation.

Oger was unavailable for comment yesterday.