On 19 May 2017, the Centre for Law and Development at Qatar University College of Law (QU-LAWC) hosted an international conference on “The Future of Alternative Dispute Resolution – A Qatari Perspective”.
The conference aimed to provide practitioners, judges and academics with a platform to discuss contemporary trends in arbitration and the future of arbitration from a Qatari perspective.
Sponsored by Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre (QICDRC) and Sultan Al-Abdulla & Partners Law Firm, the conference is part of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed last year between LAWC and QICDRC to establish collaboration in the field of research, according to a statement
from QU.
The opening session was attended by LAWC dean Dr Mohamed Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi, QICDRC president Lord Nicholas Phillips and CEO Faisal Rashid al-Sahouti, Sultan Al-Abdulla & Partners Law Firm managing partner Sultan al-Abdulla and Emeritus Professor of International Law at the University of Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne, Dr Brigitte Stern, as well as QU leadership, faculty and staff.
The event’s programme featured four panel discussions titled “Economic Subjects and Arbitration”, “Alternative Courts and Alternative Dispute Resolution”, “New Qatari Law on Arbitration” and “Public Law and Arbitration”. It also included numerous presentations delivered by speakers from QU, Cairo University, the Austrian embassy to Qatar, Outer Temple Chambers – UK, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, QICDRC and Sultan Al-Abdulla & Partners Law Firm.
They presented on a wide range of topics.
Also on the programme were the launch of the LAWC Centre for Law and Development and a screening of a video on the centre. The establishment of the centre aims to build national capacity in the field of law in line with the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030. Its research output “will contribute to developing laws and policies related to national development, building awareness of laws in Qatar and promoting the exchange of ideas for policy development and implementation”, the statement notes.
Dr Al-Khulaifi, LAWC associate professor of Law and Chair in Alternative Dispute Resolution Dr Francis Botchway, Al-Abdulla and Al-Sahouti stressed the importance of the conference.