The Courts in Qatar Financial Centre and Dubai International Financial Centre: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Qatar and Dubai have established financial centres which have been based upon the common law jurisdiction of England and Wales because of the advantages such a system can give to the development of their respective financial services industries. The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) and the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) each have specialist courts, also based upon English common law principles, to resolve civil and commercial disputes. These courts fall outside of the framework which otherwise governs domestic courts in Qatar and Dubai. The benefits of the QFC and DIFC set-up include familiarity to foreign investors, by being based upon common law jurisdictions, laws and regulations which are written in English, as well as being overseen by both an independent judiciary and an independent regulatory body.

The scope of this paper is to compare the court systems of both the QFC and the DIFC, particularly the enforceability of the courts’ judgments and the enforceability of the arbitration award and to assess whether one financial centre is preferable over the other financial centre on the basis of the enforceability of court judgments and the enforcement of arbitral awards.

Keywords: QICDRC, Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre, Civil and Commercial Court at Qatar Financial Centre, Courts at Qatar Financial Centre

JEL Classification: D74, D90, D99, K40, K41, K49, D63, H73, F38, G1, G10, G15, G20, N2, N20, O16