Kunal Mishra Kunal Mishra is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK, a civil engineer, and a contract engineer working for the National Marine Dredging Company in Abu Dhabi, UAE. He is responsible for managing all kinds of pre and postcontract matters related to marine and dredging work and advising the project team on measures to be taken to avoid disputes. With over 13 years of experience in the international construction industry, he has worked on many large-scale and complex infrastructure projects, successfully managing high-value claims and amicably resolving complex contractual matters and disputes. The National Marine Dredging Company The National Marine Dredging Company was established in Abu Dhabi in 1979 and is one of the leading semi-governmental companies working in dredging, reclamation, and marine construction projects in the Middle East. As a contracting company, it has successfully completed landmark projects with the support of its impressively large fleet of dredgers and support vessels. construction and dredging matters in the UAE. There are still some ongoing developments happening to strengthen the process, which we will see soon. In light of these ongoing developments, I can see that mediation continues to be the preferred method for settling disputes since many contracts in this industry include mediation provisions. In March 2022, the UAE decided to join the Singapore Convention on Mediation to accelerate international business and encourage mediation as a means for dispute resolution – another significant development. In your view, what new trends will soon take hold in this sector? The UAE Mediation Law allows for the establishment of mediation centres in 55 AUG 2022 | WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM THOUGHT LEADER - KUNAL MISHRA the UAE through obtaining the requisite licenses. As there are no supplementary regulations related to the licensing of mediation centres and the registration of mediators (Articles 4 and 25 of the UAE Mediation Law), I hope that these will be issued soon. This law also stipulates certain limits related to the involvement of a mediator, such as that they are prevented from testifying for or against a party to a mediation. Therefore, the Code of Business Conduct for Mediators will be released soon. It is hoped that the mediation centre will create a model mediation agreement in both English and Arabic to help the industry manage the mediation process more efficiently while remaining compliant with the law. All such pending developments are expected to progress quickly in the near future with the strong support of the UAE leadership, encouraging parties to choose mediation. The recent developments in commercial mediation in the UAE, such as the Mediation Law and ADGM’s courtannexed mediation, have paved the way for mediation to become popular.
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