Branch Updates Q4
Catch up below on the following Egypt Branch activities during Q4 2021.
Egypt Branch Activities Featured on the CIArb ESolver
The October 2021 edition of the CIArb eSolver posted a video covering the activities and news of the Egypt Branch during the second and third quarters. The video highlighted the Branch unprecedented events during that period including the first joint CIArb Egypt-CIArb London Webinar, the first Joint CIArb Egypt-CIArb London Young Member Group (YMG) Webinar, and the first CIArb Egypt Workshop in Arabic on Witness Cross-Examination. The Branch new social media developments were also covered.
Profile of a Branch Committee Member Featured on the CIArb ESolver
The November 2021 edition of the CIArb eSolver featured the profile of the Branch YMG Representative Ms. Natasha Shiraz (FCIArb), Legal Director, Corporate Legal Department at Orascom Construction. The profile included information about the experience of Ms. Shirazi in the ADR field and how CIArb membership benefited her career. Recent developments of the Egypt Branch devoted to young members were also highlighted, especially the launch of the Mentoring Programme and the YMG.
Commenting on the best thing about being a Member/Fellow of the CIArb Ms. Shirazi stated: “One unique aspect of being a Fellow of the CIArb, and being a member of the Egypt Branch, is the opportunity to interact with ADR professionals who are not lawyers. In our Egypt Branch, the majority of CIArb members are in fact engineers. As a lawyer, I find this diversity to be enriching to my own experience”.
CIArb Branch Chairs Meetings
On 12 October 2021, Prof. Dr. Mohamed Abdel Raouf, Branch Chair, represented the Branch at the virtual CIArb Branch Chairs meeting with CIArb key officers including Ms. Catherine Dixon, CIArb Director General and Mr. Jim O’Donnell, Director of IT and Digital Transformation. Discussions focused on the CIArb campaign to raise membership, increasing membership fees for the sustainability of the CIArb, technology update, CIArb online global calendar, and IT Roadmap.
On 1 December 2021, Dr. Waleed El Nemr, Vice Chair of the CIArb Egypt Branch, represented the Branch at the last round of virtual CIArb Branch Chairs meetings in 2021. Discussions approached the November Board of Trustees Meeting, the 2022 annual plans and planning for 2022 training in light of the Education and Training Reform, governance issues relating to the evaluation of the consultation feedback on governance reform and the relevant governance reform appointed organisation to help recruit to sub committees, the 2022 subscriptions and renewals process, and technology update on CIArb Zoom service for branches and CIArb online Global Calendar.
Egypt Branch Supports CRCICA’s Dispute Board Rules Launching Events
Egypt Branch was among the supporting organizations for a series of events organized to launch CRCICA new Dispute Board Rules (“DB Rules”). The events were held virtually on 4 &5 October 2021 and were introduced by Dr. Ismail Selim, Director of CRCICA and Egypt Branch Vice Chair, and moderated by Ms. Aisha Nadar, Infrastructure Procurement and Dispute Management, Advokatfirman Runeland, Sweden. Other supporters were Dispute Resolution Board Foundation, Pinsent Masons, and African Arbitration Association.
CRCICA DB Rules were drafted through the guidance of existing institutional rules and the comprehensive input and invaluable contributions of the CRCICA’s DB Committee, which included renowned experts in the field of the DB from around the world. The DB Rules, issued in Arabic, English and will shortly be issued in French, provide a prompt, cost-effective and impartial dispute avoidance and resolution mechanisms adapted to all types and sizes of construction projects. The DB Rules were issued to meet the increasing demand of the domestic, regional and international business and construction communities. They became in force as of 1 August 2021.
Egypt Branch Supports the virtual DRBF Middle East/North Africa (MENA) Regional Conference
Egypt Branch was a supporting organization for the virtual Middle East/North Africa (MENA) Regional Conference organized by the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation (DRBF) held on 4 November 2021. The Conference’s agenda included an overview of DB application and best practices, practical tips for DB award writing, and enforceability of DB decisions in the region. The agenda also included a case study of a successful DB process related to a project in the Middle East.
It is worth noting that, among the eminent speakers of the event were Dr. Ahmed Waly, Committee Member of the CIArb Egypt Branch and Dr. Waleed El Nemr, Vice Chair of the CIArb Egypt Branch and Egypt’s representative of the DRBF.
Fourth Branch Virtual Committee Meeting
The fourth Committee meeting of the CIArb Egypt Branch was held virtually on 30 November 2021. Members approved the agenda of the meeting and the minutes of the latest Committee Meeting as recorded on 28 September 2021. The Branch Chair, Prof. Dr. Abdel Raouf, presented a brief on the virtual meeting with CIArb Leader of Project to Develop a New Communication Strategy held on 5 October 2021, and a brief on the virtual meeting with CIArb key officers held on 12 October 2021; attended by CIArb Director General and Director of IT and Digital Transformation. Branch Treasurer, Dr. Ismail Selim, presented a brief on the Branch Treasurer virtual meeting held on 22 October 2021.
Members discussed other items of the agenda including an update on Branch membership, application for CIArb AFL, students’ membership, and the nomination of Dr. Mohamed Hafez, Branch Committee Member, to be the Branch Data Manager. Discussions also approached the Branch future events; namely the training course on Comparative Commercial Arbitration: Theory and Practice (CCATP), qualifying for the membership of the CIArb scheduled on 19-26 December 2021, Wednesday One virtual lecture on “The Impartiality of Arbitrators” scheduled on 22 March 2022, an event on the pros and cons of cross witness examination, an event on arbitration from the prospective of in-house counsel, and a networking event for the mentoring groups at the end of the Branch first cycle of the Mentoring Programme. The next Branch Committee meeting and AGM was scheduled on 22 March 2022.
Training Course on Comparative Commercial Arbitration: Theory and Practice
On 19-26 December 2021, the CRCICA (the seat of the Branch) organized jointly with the CIArb Egypt Branch the third round of the Training Course on Comparative Commercial Arbitration: Theory and Practice (CCATP) after the renewal of CRCICA’s license as an accredited Recognized Course Provider (RCP) in 2020. The CCATP course is equivalent to the CIArb Module (I) on international arbitration and qualifies successful candidates to apply for the membership of the CIArb.
The course program covered the most important issues in international arbitration and ADR: overview of ADR mechanisms, arbitration agreements, arbitral tribunals, arbitral proceedings, arbitral awards and post-awards remedies.
The course was tutored by Prof. Dr. Mohamed S. Abdel Wahab, Chair of Private International Law and Professor of International Arbitration at Cairo University, Founding Partner & Head of the International Arbitration, Construction, Oil & Gas and Projects Groups, Zulficar & Partners Law Firm; Prof. Dr. Mohamed Abdel Raouf, Attorney at Law, Partner and Head of the International Arbitration Group at Abdel Raouf Law Firm, Chair of the CIArb Egypt Branch, Associate Professor at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne; Dr. Ismail Selim, Director of the CRCICA, Vice-Chair of the CIArb Egypt Branch, Lecturer at Pantheon Sorbonne University Paris (Cairo Branch), and Dr. Dalia Hussein, Deputy Director of the CRCICA, Honorary Secretary of the CIArb Egypt Branch, Lecturer of Commercial and Maritime Law at the Faculty of Law Zagazig University and Adjunct Professor of Law at the American University in Cairo.
Reference texts comprised an unprecedented collection of documents including the most recent institutional rules, model and national laws, guidelines and code of ethics. It also included comparative state court decisions from the most pertinent jurisdictions, and a large number of analytical articles by renowned scholars and expert commentaries. The examination included various questions and a complex mock case carefully prepared based on CRCICA’s accumulative experience over 40 years in the administration of arbitration cases. 37 Participants attended the course were mostly lawyers, civil and construction engineers and academics from Egypt, KSA, and UAE.
Webinar including a Mock Mediation Construction Case
With the objective of raising awareness about mediation in the construction industry, the Egypt Branch concluded its events in 2021 with a very special webinar: A Mock Mediation Construction Case organized by the Branch jointly with the CRCICA on 26 December 2021. The event was conducted in a unique format, starting with an opening speech followed by one-hour video comprising a role play of the various key stages of a mediation process; previously shot at the CRCICA (the seat of the Branch) and acted by the five experienced speakers, and finally concluding with an open discussion with the participants on the mock case content in the video.
The speakers, all members of the Branch Committee, were Dr. Ahmed Waly; Managing Partner of Waly – Arbitration and Contract Administration Firm, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Engineering, Helwan University, and Adjunct Associate Professor at the Department of Construction Engineering at the AUC, Eng. Ahmed Afifi; Contracts Manager, Hill International (Africa) Ltd, Dr. Salwa Fawzy; Contracts Director at Atrium Project Management, Instructor at the American University in Cairo, Eng. Mahmoud El Saadany; Founder and General Manager of Rights for Project Management Consultancy Firm, and Dr. Waleed El Nemr; Contracts Director, Hill International (Africa) Ltd, Adjunct Assistant Professor at the American University in Cairo. The speakers acted as the parties in a typical mediation case and included a mediator, a contractor (CEO) and the contractor project manager on one hand and a subcontractor CEO and subcontractor project manager on the other hand. The event concluded after lively discussions with the attendees. 276 participants attended from Albania, Algeria, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Yemen.
The opening speech, delivered by Dr. El Nemr, included a tribute to two Former Committee Members of the Egypt Branch: Eng. Tamer Nabieh, Hill International (Africa) Ltd, Honorary Treasurer of the Egypt Branch and Ms. Wissam El Molla, Associate Director, Head of Conferences, Training and External Relations Department, CRCICA, Honorary Secretary of the Egypt Branch, both untimely passed away in October 2019. Dr. El Nemr praised their invaluable contributions to the Branch and the efforts they devoted its development as well as their support to all the Branch activities.
View all branch events for Q4 2021.