Recent judgment by the Qatar Court of Appeal in relation to the rejection of an application to set aside an Arbitration award:

The Qatari Court of Appeal once again showcased its arbitration-friendly stance, demonstrating its strict adherence to the provisions of the Qatari Arbitration Law No. 2 of 2017 when dealing with setting aside proceedings.

The setting aside proceedings related to circa QAR1billion award issued in a construction dispute involving one of our clients (a foreign investor), following arbitration proceedings seated in Qatar.

The unsuccessful party initiated setting aside proceedings against the award based on several grounds, including the alleged violation of:

· Article 31 of the Arbitration Law, for failure to enclose a copy of the arbitration agreement;

· Public policy, for ordering interest;

· The parties’ agreement, for allegedly violating certain contractual provisions of the contract that was the subject-matter of the dispute;

· The prohibition against ruling ex aequo et bono and exceeding its powers, for assessing and granting compensation based on an expert’s reasoning without relying on the relevant provisions of Qatari law;

· The tribunal’s duty of impartiality and independence, for ruling in favor of one party without considering the other party’s defense.

In this judgment issued in May 2025, the Court of Appeal rejected the setting aside application for the following reasons:

· The applicant failed to prove that the application satisfied any of the grounds set out under Article 33 of the Qatari Arbitration Law, which are strictly limited in scope and cannot be broadly interpreted;

· The Arbitral Tribunal ruling on the substance of the dispute falls outside the scope of review by the setting aside judge unless there is a violation of public policy;

· Based on Article 5 of the Qatari Arbitration Law, where a party fails to object during the arbitration proceedings and continues to participate without reservation, it is deemed to have waived its right to rely on those grounds at the setting aside stage.

Al Marri & El Hage Law Offices are ready to assist any party involved in arbitration proceedings in Qatar, the GCC and Lebanon.