Arbitral Awards of the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration. Vol. IV

This fourth series of cases brought before the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration introduces some of the most important arbitration cases involving major construction companies from Europe and the United States during the past decade. Manifesting once again the Centre’s hybrid procedures that permit the harmonization of legal cultures among parties while rigorously adhering to the agreements between the parties, all applicable law, and guarantees of defence, this volume provides full details on seven cases, dealing with disputes pursuant to major construction contracts (an airport, a Red Sea port, a Mediterranean tourist resort, and a power plant), and disputes over the validity of the arbitration clause and the dispute resolution procedure itself. As in previous volumes in the series, the sections on each of the seven cases include full or only slightly abridged summaries of the actual awards, with detailed commentaries. Although these awards were rendered in English; they were edited and commented by the prominent legal scholar, arbitrator, and lawyer Dr. Mohie Eldin I. Alam-Eldin. His in-depth commentary on the cases encompasses discussion of emerging new arbitral trends and principles and new approaches to arbitration engendered by the ever-growing and changing practices and patterns of international trade.

The significance of the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration, as a forward looking and innovative institution directly influencing business activity in some of the most important areas of global commerce, can hardly be overstated. This book validates and reinforces the Centre’s pivotal role, and will be of inestimable value to the international commercial arbitration community.

Among the issues arising and dealt with (and likely to arise in any arbitration) in this volume are the following:

• significance of an applicable bilateral investment treaty;

• delay in performance;

• reimbursement of actual costs incurred in performance;

• non-payment or late payment by employer of certified sums;

• payment for work performed under changed circumstances;

• interest payments;

• damages due to default;

• dumped material and environmental damage;

• suspension or termination of the arbitral proceedings;

• relief as a result of lost opportunity or lost profit; and

• relief during pre- and post-termination periods.

This uncommonly useful book will be esteemed for the insights it offers into the motivations behind arbitral decisions, its clarification of the compatibility of arbitral principles with international legal trends, and its signal contribution to the understanding of dispute settlement systems worldwide. Academics and jurists will appreciate the book’s value to comparative law studies and the harmonization of arbitration proceedings, while arbitrators and corporate counsel will welcome its ample legal discussion on the issues raised, examples of witness examination and cross-examination, and drafting of claims and counterclaims. All legal practitioners, scholars, and others dealing with commercial arbitration, not only in the region but worldwide, will benefit greatly from reading this book and applying its insights.