CRCICA wins the "GAR Guide to regional arbitration award for an arbitral institution that impressed" at the 9^th Annual GAR Awards Ceremony, Paris

On 4 April 2019, in a large awards ceremony held in Paris, CRCICA was awarded the GAR Guide to Regional Arbitration Award for “arbitral institution that impressed”. The award was won for CRCICA’s commitment to improving diversity not only in the appointment of arbitrators, but also when promoting its own staff, and for being “one of the most reasonable priced institutions around.” The new appointments made by the institution in its Advisory Committee were also a factor leading to CRCICA’s win.

It is worth noting that in 2013 CRCICA also won the prestigious GAR Award for the up-and-coming regional institution: "the winner was the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration, in recognition of its great strides in the past year". In 2016, for the third consecutive year, the GAR enrolled CRCICA as one of four regional institutions in the Middle East and Africa that are worth a closer look and worth considering for the right case. In 2017, the GAR topped CRCICA on the White List for Middle East and Africa together with another institution.

During the same ceremony, the award for best lecture or speech went to Cairo-based arbitration specialist Dr. Karim Youssef, Managing Partner and Head of International Arbitration & International Law, Youssef & Partners Attorneys, and Member of CRCICA’s Advisory Committee for his speech at CRCICA’s World’s Sole Biennial Conference on “The Role of State Courts in International Arbitration”, organized by CRCICA in cooperation with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the International Federation of Commercial Arbitration Institutions (IFCAI) and the Arab Union for International Arbitration (AUIA) on 9-10 December 2018 at Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Dr. Youssef’s speech titled “Against Stigma: Lessons in Refuting Negative Perception & Self‐Reproach from the Arab Spring & the Egyptian Investment Treaty Arbitrations” argued that Egypt’s position and reaction towards the large number of cases filed against it demonstrates that the Investor state dispute settlement mechanism are functioning properly.

The award for best development went to the launch of the African Arbitration Association (AfAA). Prof. Dr. Mohamed S. Abdel Wahab, Chair of Private International Law Department and Professor of International Arbitration (Cairo University), Founding Partner and Head of International Arbitration, Zulficar & Partners Law Firm; Vice-President, ICC International Court of Arbitration, Member of CRCICA’s Advisory Committee, and CIArb Trustee for the Middle East/Indian Sub-Continent Region, who headed a committee that drew up the constitution of the new association, was in the room to accept the award on AfAA’s behalf. It is to be noted that CRCICA’s Director, Dr. Ismail Selim, is a founding member of the AfAA Board of Directors and the sole representative of North Africa in its Board.