DIAC (Dubai International Arbitration Centre)

DIAC is Dubai's principal arbitration institution, administering arbitrations under its own rules: it handles case filing, arbitrator appointments, fee management and award scrutiny logistics. Dubai Decree No. 34 of 2021 consolidated arbitration institutions in the emirate, absorbing the former DIFC-LCIA centre into DIAC, which now serves both onshore and DIFC-seated arbitrations and is the default institution named in a large share of UAE commercial and construction contracts. Parties choosing DIAC typically specify it in their arbitration clause along with the seat (onshore Dubai or DIFC), language and tribunal size. It matters because the institution shapes the arbitration's cost, speed and procedural backbone — and because thousands of existing contracts referencing the old DIFC-LCIA clauses are now administered by DIAC. You meet it when negotiating dispute resolution clauses, when filing or defending an arbitration in Dubai, or when enforcing a DIAC award through the courts.