Rupert Reed KC and Gregor Hogan acted for the successful respondent in the landmark DIFC Court of Appeal judgment in Nael v Niamh [2024] CIFC CA 015 (9 January 2025).

The respondent had obtained an AED 160,722,046 (c. USD 43 million) DIFC-seated arbitral award which it sought to have recognised and enforced in the DIFC. The award required the appellant award debtor to make payment under a series of unconditional and on-demand guarantees, which are a common form of security in construction projects in the UAE. The appellant challenged recognition and enforcement on public policy grounds pursuant to Article 44(1)(b)(ii) of the DIFC Arbitration Law (which incorporates the UAE’s obligations under the New York Convention into DIFC law), which were said to arise from an allegedly inconsistent judgment of the onshore Dubai bankruptcy court.

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