The conference brought together a large group of key stakeholders, including academics, government officials, judges, members of Parliament and civil society organizations, to discuss the prospects for Iraq passing a law on international arbitration and becoming a party to the U.N. Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “New York Convention”) as a key component to creating an attractive legal environment for international trade and investment.

The vast majority of international contracts provide that contract disputes will be resolved by international arbitration, rather than in the courts of any country.  Nations that are parties to the New York Convention agree that – subject only to certain limited exceptions – their courts will respect and enforce international arbitration agreements and international arbitration awards.

“As a practical matter, before a company decides whether to trade with or invest in any particular country, the company’s legal advisor checks whether that country is a party to the New York Convention,” stated Dr. Ali Al-Rufaie, former Dean of the Baghdad Law School.  “The New York Convention gives companies confidence that contract disputes can be resolved by international arbitration, and that courts will enforce arbitration agreements and arbitration awards.”  

CLDP has been working closely with the US Embassy for the past four years to provide training and advice on international commercial arbitration, as part of CLDP’s support for implementation of the Strategic Framework Agreement between the United States and Iraq.  To date, CLDP has provided training on international commercial arbitration to more than one hundred and fifty Iraqi judges, commercial attaches, and legal advisors to Ministries.