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Cross-Border Arbitration — ABR Advocates
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Arbitration

Cross-Border Arbitration

When a dispute involves parties, performance or assets in more than one country, the challenges multiply: which law governs the contract, which law governs the arbitration agreement itself, where the arbitration should be seated, and how the award will ultimately be enforced where the assets actually sit. We handle these questions seamlessly, so a multi-country dispute reaches a single, enforceable conclusion.

The decisions that shape a cross-border case

The seat determines the supervising court and the law governing the arbitration’s validity; the governing law determines the substantive rights; and the enforcement target — the country where the losing party’s assets are — determines what the award must survive. These three must be aligned, ideally at the contract stage. We advise on that alignment across onshore UAE (Federal Law No. 6 of 2018, as amended), the DIFC and ADGM, and foreign seats.

How we help

Seat and governing-law strategy at drafting and at the outset of a dispute.

Conducting multi-jurisdictional references — coordinating evidence, witnesses and experts across borders, under the major institutional rules.

Enforcing foreign awards in the UAE under the New York Convention, before the competent courts.

Enforcing UAE awards abroad, coordinating qualified counsel in the target jurisdiction.

Common questions

Cross-Border Arbitration FAQs

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Yes. The UAE is a New York Convention state, and foreign awards are recognised and enforced through the competent court, subject to the Convention’s limited refusal grounds.
No. The seat is a free choice and need not follow the place of performance — but it should be chosen deliberately, because it fixes the supervising court and shapes enforcement.
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