Sally El Sawah

Practice Areas

Dr. Sally El Sawah is the Founder of El Sawah Law |Cairo and Co-Founder and Head of Arbitration & Litigation of Junction |Paris. She is Egyptian and French qualified and Registered Foreign Lawyer with the SRA in England & Wales, acting as Arbitrator, Counsel, Consultant and Legal Expert. She is also a Board Member of ArbitralWomen, the Editor of the Africa Construction Law Blog for the North African Region and the former Deputy Secretary General of the African Arbitration Association.

As International lawyer and Arbitrator, Dr. El Sawah has been involved in a number of high-profile cases and projects in Egypt and the “Europe, Middle East and Africa” region (EMEA). She has gained a wealth of experience during a career spanning over sixteen years in Paris, London, and Cairo, both in reputable law firms and as an independent practitioner, particularly in practice areas such as foreign investment, construction, energy and infrastructure, industrial transfers, oil and gas, corporate, joint-ventures, agency and distribution, commodities, international sale, hotel industry, pharmaceuticals, State contracts and telecommunications.

She regularly advises and appears as Counsel before French and Egyptian Courts, in projects and cases involving States, State Entities, State-owned companies, SMEs and major multinational companies in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Asia.

Career

Jul. 21 – present | Junction (Paris) - Co-founder and Head of Arbitration & Litigation

Mar. 20 – present | El Sawah Law (Cairo) - Founder & Principal

May 19 – Mar. 20 | Youssef & Partners Attorneys (Cairo) - Partner

Professional Memberships

Bar Admission & Affiliations

Egypt - 2002

Paris - 2010

England & Wales - 2017 (RFL with the SRA)

Publications

Book

“State and International Organisations Immunities – Immunities and the Right to a Fair Trial” (in French): “Immunités des Etats et des organisations internationales – Immunités et procès équitable”, Larcier, Brussels, 2012

Articles and Notes

- “Note on the French Cour de cassation’s decision of 28 February 2012 on the State Immunity from Jurisdiction” (in French), Journal du Droit International, 2012/4, p. 1394

- “Egyptian Arbitration Case Law Review” (in French), Revue de l’arbitrage, 2013/1, p. 191 (with Dalia Hussein and Ismaïl Selim)

- “Note on the 13 January 2011 French Decree on Arbitration” (in English), Journal of Arab Arbitration, 2013/1, p. 3 (with Ahmed Habib)

- “Note on the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea’s decision of 15 December 2012, The Ara Libertad Case” (in French), Clunet, 2013/3, p. 857 (with Jorge E. Viñuales)

- “Note on the French Cour de cassation’s decision of 13 May 2015 on the Waiver of State Immunity from Execution” (in French), Clunet, 2016/1, p. 141 (with Philippe Leboulanger)

- Book Review: D. Simon (ed.), Le droit international des immunités. Constantes et ruptures, Pédone, 2015, 292 pages, (in French), Clunet, 2017/1, p. 385

- Chapter on “Jurisdictional Immunity of States – non-commercial tort”, (in English), in T. Ruys & N. Angelet (eds.), Cambridge Handbook on Immunities and International Law, CUP, 2019, p. 142

- Chapter on “State Immunity from Execution in France: The Shield of Sapin II” (in English), Journal of Arab Arbitration, vol. 31, 2019, p. 39

“Note on CRCICA Award No. 1038/2015 on “Termination of Contracts Clauses Under Egyptian Law”, (in Arabic), World Journal of Arbitration, vol. 47-48, (Jul-Oct. 2020)

- “National Report/ Egypt” (in English), in G. Rojas Elgueta, J. Hoskins & Y. Lahlou (eds.), ICCA Hearing Project “Does a right to a physical hearing exist in international arbitration”, https://cdn.arbitration-icca.org/s3fs-public/document/mediadocument/Egypt-Right-To-A-Physical-Hearing-Report.pdf (with Dalia Hussein)

- “The Suitability of Arbitration as A Forum for the Resolution of Business-Human Rights Disputes”, African Arbitration Association Blog, https://afaa.ngo/page-18097/10402985

- “Waiver of State Immunity over Central Bank Accounts! Say No More!”, French Supreme Court Rules”, (in English), EAIPL Blog, https://eapil.org/2021/08/05/waiver-of-state-immunity-over-central-bank-accounts-say-no-more-french-supreme-court-rules/

- “Note on the New Mining Code of Mali”, (in French), https://junction-law.com/news/le-nouveau-code-minier-du-mali

- “A New Game Changer in BOT Agreements in Egypt – The Dipco Case”, (in English), YIMEL, (March 2022)

- “Guidelines on Drafting Witness Statements and Expert Reports in International Arbitration”, (in English), AfAA and AAA, forthcoming