Paris, November 4, 2013 – Nadia Darwazeh, counsel in the International Arbitration group at the international law firm Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP, will serve as the first Secretary General of the historic new Jerusalem Arbitration Centre (JAC).
The JAC, which will officially launch on November 18 in Jerusalem, after four years in the making, will provide arbitration services to Palestinian and Israeli businesses. It will be the first neutral body in the region with authority to determine disputes between the two parties.
The long-term goal for the JAC is to enhance bilateral business between Palestinians and Israelis and provide a secure environment for future investments. Trade between Israeli and Palestinian entities is estimated to be about $5 billion annually.
The JAC is the first International Arbitration Center in Jerusalem and is the result of a joint venture agreement between ICC Israel and ICC Palestine, under the umbrella of the international ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) in Paris.
The Jerusalem Arbitration Centre is aimed at creating a joint legal framework that is credible and will serve as an ideal forum for both Israeli and Palestinian businesses to resolve their commercial disputes. The JAC will provide for an impartial, speedy, and cost-efficient dispute resolution mechanism. Arbitration awards rendered under the rules of the JAC will be final and binding in both Israel and Palestine, as recognized by the relevant ministries.
“The Palestinians and Israelis needed a neutral and reliable way to resolve business disputes in order to facilitate and develop trade between both parties,” said Ms. Darwazeh, who, as Secretary General, will supervise the management of cases before the JAC.
“The Jerusalem Arbitration Centre has the active involvement of the ICC and leading international arbitration practitioners around the world. Therefore, the JAC offers the expertise and credibility to provide a neutral and effective legal framework that can be trusted. The creation of the JAC has been driven by Israeli and Palestinian business leaders who recognized the urgent need for such a dispute resolution mechanism. I am excited to have been selected to make a meaningful contribution to this important new venture.”
Ms. Darwazeh will head the JAC Secretariat in her role as international Secretary General and work closely with Yves Derains, president of the JAC Court. The JAC Secretariat will oversee the management of the arbitrations to ensure that they are conducted in accordance with the JAC Rules. She will be assisted by one Palestinian Deputy Secretary General and one Israeli Deputy Secretary General.
At Curtis, Ms. Darwazeh focuses her practice on international arbitration. She previously served as counsel for the Europe, Middle-East, Africa Team at the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris, where she supervised more than 400 arbitrations. Prior to her time at the ICC she worked in the arbitration groups of leading international law firms in London, Frankfurt and Shanghai. Ms. Darwazeh, who is a German and Dutch national, speaks English, French, German, Dutch and Mandarin Chinese.
Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP is a leading international law firm providing a broad range of services to clients around the world. Curtis has 15 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. The firm’s international orientation has been a hallmark of its practice for nearly two centuries. For more information about Curtis, please visit www.curtis.com or follow Curtis on Twitter (twitter.com/curtislawfirm) and Facebook (Facebook.com/Curtis.Careers).