DIAC — the dominant UAE arbitration institution.

What DIAC is

The Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) is the principal UAE-domestic arbitration institution and the leading regional arbitration body. It administers arbitrations under the 2022 DIAC Rules (which replaced the 2007 Rules), with awards enforceable globally under the New York Convention 1958 (acceded to by the UAE in 2006). Following the 2021 abolition of the DIFC-LCIA Arbitration Centre by Decree No. 34 of 2021, DIAC now also administers existing DIFC-LCIA cases.

The 2022 DIAC Rules — what changed

• Expedited procedure — for claims under AED 4 million as default (post-2026 update; previously AED 1 million on application)
• Emergency arbitrator — appointment within 5 business days (post-2026 update; previously 14 days)
• Joinder of additional parties — clearer mechanics for multi-party disputes
• Cross-examination as default — moved away from documents-only proceedings
• Tribunal-secretary framework — formalised role and disclosure

The DIAC arbitration process

DIAC vs other UAE arbitration institutions

DIAC guides and analysis

Practitioner notes on the 2022 Rules, costs, procedure and enforcement, drawn from DIAC matters we have run.

What a DIAC arbitration costs

DIAC charges on an ad valorem basis: the registration fee is fixed, while the administrative fee and the tribunal's fees are calculated from the amount in dispute. That structure matters when choosing between institutions, because ad valorem and hourly models diverge sharply as the sum in dispute rises — on a mid-value claim the difference between two institutions can exceed the difference between winning quickly and winning slowly.

Three drivers move the final number more than the published schedule does. The first is the number of arbitrators: a three-member tribunal does not cost three times a sole arbitrator, but it is the single largest controllable cost in most references, and the default under the Rules depends on what the clause says. The second is whether the expedited procedure applies — it carries a lower cost base and a compressed timetable. The third is the parties' own conduct: document production fights, unnecessary interlocutory applications and late amendments are charged for, and they are the costs most often described afterwards as unforeseeable when they were entirely foreseeable.

Costs follow the event in the ordinary case. The tribunal has express power to award legal costs as well as the costs of the arbitration, so an unsuccessful party can expect to contribute to the other side's fees — which changes the arithmetic on a marginal claim considerably.

For an indicative comparison across DIAC, arbitrateAD, ICC, LCIA and SIAC at a given amount in dispute, use our arbitration cost calculator.

The DIAC model clause, and the choices inside it

DIAC publishes a model arbitration clause, and parties should start from it rather than from a clause copied out of an unrelated contract. Most of the pathological clauses that reach the ADGM and Dubai courts were drafted by adaptation, and the defect is usually invisible until the day it decides who hears the dispute.

Four choices sit inside the clause and each one is worth a deliberate decision. The seat determines the supervisory court: a Dubai seat puts the onshore courts behind the arbitration, while a DIFC seat puts the DIFC Courts there, applying a common-law framework in English. The number of arbitrators is the main cost lever and should be matched to the likely value of disputes under the contract, not to the value of the contract itself. The language governs the whole reference, and a clause silent on it invites an early procedural fight. The governing law of the contract is distinct from the law of the seat, and stating only one of them is a common and expensive omission.

Two further provisions repay attention in any contract that sits in a chain. A consolidation or joinder mechanism allows related disputes to be heard together; without one, the same delay or defect is tried separately against each counterparty, on separate records, with a real possibility of inconsistent findings. And where a contract forms part of a suite, the arbitration provisions across that suite should be compatible — matching seat, institution and language — or consolidation will be unavailable precisely when it is needed.

Frequently asked questions

Last updated: 1 May 2026. Contact us for matter-specific advice.