Agreement inked to offer arbitrator training and accreditation courses

Muscat: The Oman Commercial Arbitration Centre (OAC) and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) announced partnership to offer CIArb’s ‘gold standard’ arbitrator training and accreditation courses in Oman.

The partnership comes in response to the marked preference by Omani and international parties doing business in and through Oman to resolve their disputes through arbitration, and the resultant growing demand for alternative dispute resolution (ADR) training.

Under this strategic partnership the two institutions will jointly offer, for the first time in Oman, CIArb’s world-renowned ‘Pathways in International Arbitration’ programme which also includes accelerated route courses to CIArb Membership and
Fellowship.

All individuals who acquire CIArb Fellowship through any of these courses will be deemed to have satisfied the important first step – the education and training requirement – for admission onto OAC’s Panel of Arbitrators.

The courses, offered in Arabic and English, will be delivered in accordance with CIArb’s regulations, standards, and would make use of CIArb tutors, syllabi, and course content, and also the CIArb’s centralised assessment system. These courses will be conducted in the conventional face-to-face mode as well as in a virtual environment.

The partnership would also strive to generally increase awareness of the advantages of arbitration and other forms of ADR to members of the business and legal communities in Oman and the wider MENA region.

The partnership agreement was signed recently by Dr Moosa Al Azri, CEO of the OAC and Catherine Dixon, Director General of CIArb.

On the occasion of the signing of this strategic partnership, Dr Al Azri said, “This historic partnership is part of the greater vision of the OAC to build capacity in arbitration in the Sultanate of Oman and generally enhance the attractiveness of Oman as a seat and venue for arbitrations.”

Catherine Dixon CIArb’s Director General said “CIArb is delighted to be working with the OAC to deliver International Arbitration training in Oman to establish Oman as an attractive and sustainable seat for international arbitration. This exciting collaboration will enable arbitration practitioners and those aspiring to be arbitrators, to access world-class internationally recognised training and to join CIArb’s global and diverse membership of over 17,000 ADR practitioners operating in over 150 jurisdictions.”