Bulk of DW cases over soon

The special tribunal set up to manage disputes relating to Dubai World and its subsidiaries is looking to wind up the bulk of its cases by the middle of 2013 and thereafter continue to remain in dormant state.

“We should probably have very few active cases in the second part of next year… We are hoping to decide in the first half of next year all the cases we have so far, but more cases may or may not come in,” Sir Anthony Evans, chairman of Dubai World Tribunal and a former chief justice of Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts, said in an interview to Arabian Business.

Dubai World Tribunal was set up in September 2009 and was designed to hear disputes relating to government-backed investment vehicle Dubai World and its subsidiaries.

“It was a time when the outside world was looking rather anxiously towards Dubai to see how it would handle the financial crisis,” Evans said.

Since completion of Nakheel’s Dh59-billion restructuring plan, the developer and Limitless, a sister company, were separated from Dubai World. They became wholly owned government entities since August 23, 2011 and as a result, cases lodged against them after this date are no longer eligible to be heard by the tribunal and are referred to the Dubai Courts.

While this is the main reason behind the decline in caseload for the tribunal, Evans said it was unlikely the tribunal would be wound up and was likely to remain dormant until it was needed on a more regular basis.

“Whether the tribunal will remain in existence I don’t know. It may remain alive but wouldn’t necessarily be very active,” he said.

According to the Dubai World Tribunal website, there are currently no cases scheduled on its calendar after March 3, 2013.

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