<p>The inauguration of the Centre for Amicable Resolution of Disputes in  April 2012 has proven to be a great success so far.&nbsp; The Centre was  launched by the Department of Economic Development in co-operation with  the Dubai Courts to provide a mediation alternative to the judicial  process.&nbsp; The Centre aims to facilitate the amicable and affordable  settlement of disputes via mediation within a period of one month before  referring the matters to the courts to proceed via the usual court  process. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Mediation is a voluntary process. It is therefore not possible  without full participation and commitment from all parties.&nbsp; All parties  must therefore agree to enter into the process with the right mindset,  although in some jurisdictions this may only be after judicial  recommendation with associated risks of costs sanctions against the  party who refused to mediate.</p>
<p>The opening of the Centre demonstrates the government&rsquo;s commitment to  encourage and increase the use of mediation in Dubai, by making it  available a part of the court process.&nbsp; The Centre is currently able to  consider the following disputes:</p>
<ol>
<li>Commonly-owned property;</li>
<li>Debt of a maximum value of AED 50,000;</li>
<li>Disputes agreed to be settled before the centre by virtue of an agreement entered into between the parties</li>
</ol>
<p>All disputes of this nature must now be reviewed by members of the  Centre before they may be filed as law suits before the relevant Dubai  courts. If the dispute is referred to the Centre then the facts of the  dispute will be reviewed and handled by a number of mediators under the  direct supervision of the concerned judge. &nbsp;</p>
<p>It is important to mention that all limitation periods and  prescription periods for the claim will be put on hold until the Centre  issues its verdict to transfer the claim to the relevant court. This  provides an invaluable incentive for those who may be worried about  impending time bars, due to the expiration of limitation periods, to  explore mediation before instigating legal proceedings.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The Centre provides an alternative avenue for the resolution of  disputes which will save time and costs.&nbsp; It also shows judicial  pioneering and an innovative attitude in light of global developments.&nbsp;  In recent years, the use of mediation has increased exponentially in  common law jurisdictions and the inauguration of the Centre shows an  important development within the civil law jurisdiction.</p>
<p>The Centre presently has limited application and the following disputes are excluded from the Centre&rsquo;s jurisdiction:</p>
<ol>
<li>Urgent claims;</li>
<li>Claims where the Government is one of the parties;</li>
<li>Claims which are not subject to the jurisdiction of the courts;</li>
<li>Claims which were registered in the courts before this law came into force;</li>
<li>Labour disputes;</li>
<li>Family disputes.</li>
</ol>
<p>The benefits of the work carried out by the Centre are significant.&nbsp;  Disputes which are referred for amicable settlement are usually mediated  and settled within a maximum period of one month from the date when the  parties first appear before the Centre, opposed to the 3 staged Dubai  Court system which can see disputes in the courts for 18 to 24 months.&nbsp;  Mediation is a process which allows the parties to focus on the  commercial aspects of their dispute rather than the legal issues which  can sometimes take the parties focus away from the real cause of the  dispute. &nbsp;</p>
<p>The one month resolution period for the centre may be extended for a  further month by court order if required but if settlement is reached a  settlement agreement will be prepared by the Centre signed by the  parties.&nbsp; This signed settlement agreement will be attested by a Dubai  Court judge and can be enforced immediately.&nbsp; The Centre provides a very  quick route to obtain an enforceable judgment in the UAE.</p>
<p>If settlement is achieved, 50% of the paid court fees will be  returned to the parties.&nbsp; If settlement is not achieved however, the  dispute will be referred to the relevant court and will proceed as a  normal court case.</p>
<p>The terms of any settlement achieved during the mediation process are  confidential, however the parties are free to agree to an alternative  agreement if they so wish. Mediation aims to resolve a dispute by  maximizing all parties&rsquo; interests and achieving a &ldquo;win-win&rdquo; outcome so  that the parties do not feel compromised.&nbsp; It aims to resolve a dispute  swiftly so that parties can move on from the dispute and preserve  commercial relationships which the court process so often destroys.&nbsp; The  parties get to agree the terms of the settlement themselves and hence  the results achieved are such that they may never be considered or  imposed by a court.&nbsp; The mediation process enables the parties to agree  their own terms of settlement and this allows for ingenuity and extra  legal solutions.</p>
<p><strong>Registering a dispute at the Centre</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>The claimant must submit two copies of a request in writing to the  court including, names of claimant and defendant, email addresses for  all parties, postal address and subject of the claim.&nbsp; The requesting  party must pay all registration fees.</li>
<li>The court will refer the request to the Centre. The dispute will be  reviewed and considered by the Centre.&nbsp; Once completed, the Centre will  either issue a decision of approval to mediate or refer the matter to  the relevant court.&nbsp;</li>
<li>A hearing session will be scheduled for first deliberation of the  claim and the claimant will be notified of the date and time for  attendance.</li>
<li>The defendant will be notified of the first hearing session via the usual court notification procedures.</li>
<li>Parties may attend by themselves or they may send a representative duly authorised by Power of Attorney.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Collaboration with the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (&ldquo;RICS&rdquo;) Mediation Panel</strong></p>
<p>Since its official UAE launch in October 2012, the RICS Mediation  Panel has been collaborating with the Dubai Courts and the Dubai Land  Department in order to promote further public understanding of the  advantages of the mediation process as alternative dispute resolution. &nbsp;</p>
<p>The meeting of minds by these highly respected government departments  and the globally respected RICS has enabled many experienced parties to  work together and discuss the evolution of mediation and the Centre for  Amicable Resolution of Disputes in the region.&nbsp; The Centre has already  demonstrated an unrivalled success in achieving settlement of a large  percentage of disputes that have been referred to it so far by the Dubai  Court.</p>
<p>The Centre is currently working with the RICS to implement further  training from the RICS Mediation Panel in order that the already  experienced mediators from the Centre may benefit from training in the  standard model of mediation which is so regularly used in the global  arena.</p>