The Red Velvet Lawyer

5/16 An Analysis of Qatar’s Mediation Law No. 20 of 2021, Its Scope Two sets of provisions set out the scope of Qatar's Mediation Law. Implementing Provisions Law No. 20 of 2021 On Issuing the Mediation Law in Settlement of Civil and Commercial Disputes consists of four Articles adopting the new law under the Emir's signature.   Article 1 states: The provisions of the Mediation Law shall be adopted in settling civil and commercial disputes, which [law] is attached to this Law. Article 2 states: "The provisions of the attached law shall apply to the lawsuits and disputes the adjudication of which fall within the jurisdiction of the civil and commercial departments of the Court of First Instance, and the lawsuits and disputes which fall within the jurisdiction of the Investment and Trade Court." Article 3 ensures no gaps in procedures by saying that: "The provisions of the . . .  Civil and Commercial Procedures Law [CCPL] shall apply to the issues for which there i

4/16 An Analysis of Qatar’s Mediation Law No. 20 of 2021, The Definition of Mediation Qatar's new mediation law defines "Mediation" as: "An amicable means of settling disputes, by mutual agreement between the parties, or by a court order." Admittedly, I am working off an unofficial translation, but oh, boy.   Sample Definitions of Mediation Before I discuss this definition, I'd like to share some definitions I use in my law school courses in the class introducing mediation to them:  “Mediation is simply a negotiation conducted with the assistance of a third party….[T]he mediator has no decision-making power, maintains strict confidentiality and involves the clients deeply in the settlement process.” HAROLD ABRAMSON, MEDIATION REPRESENTATION (2004) at 67-68. “Mediation is an extension or elaboration of the negotiating process that involves the intervention of an acceptable third-party who has limited or no authoritative decision-making power. This person a

3/16 An Analysis of Qatar’s Mediation Law No. 20 of 2021, Cultural Disclaimer As I launch into the analysis of Qatar's new mediation law, I am mindful that my perspective is deeply embedded in a Western, common-law perspective, and further embedded in the "core values" of mediation as spelled out in U.S. state statutes, rules, and ethics codes, as well as model acts developed by national organizations of U.S. mediators. What is Culture? Culture is the cumulative result of experience, values, religion, beliefs, attitudes, meanings, knowledge, social organizations, procedures, timing, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe and material objects and possessions acquired or created by groups of people, in the course of generations, through individual and group effort and interactions. Culture manifests itself in patterns of language, behavior and activities and provides models and norms for acceptable day-to-day interactions and styles of communication. Culture ena

2/16 An Analysis of Qatar’s Mediation Law No. 20 of 2021, My Interest and Expertise in the Subject Matter Before I launch into an analysis of the Qatari mediation law, I want to explain why I am taking on this project.   When I moved to Qatar in 2015, I already had 16 years of experience in the mediation field as a law professor, scholar, professional trainer, mediation ethicist, and practitioner.  I had seized the highest opportunities to serve within the Commonwealth of Virginia, U.S.A., as noted below.  But, my law school offered decreasing resources for faculty travel, conference fees, and scholarship, making it difficult for me to leverage that experience and reputation to a national level that might have led to leadership positions in the  Dispute Resolution Section of the American Bar Association.  So, I thought a move to Qatar would give me an opportunity to scale up my mediation practice to an international level.  Sadly, it never happened. I left Qatar in 2021, only a few mon

1/16 An Analysis of Qatar’s Mediation Law No. 20 of 2021, Introduction On October 18, 2021, The Emir of the State of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, issued a mediation law ushering in the era of modern mediation in Qatar.    This law provides an important part of the “infrastructure” needed to expand the use of high-quality mediation services in the region.      Law No. 20 of 2021 has two parts: “On issuing the Mediation Law in Settlement of Civil and Commercial Disputes” (Article Nos. 1 to 4) and, “Mediation Law in Settlement of Civil and Commercial Disputes” (Article Nos. 1 to 33).  A copy of an unofficial English-language version of the law is available here .  An Arabic version of the law is available at www.almeezan.qa the legal portal for Qatari laws.   Over the next several weeks, I will analyze the law and assess its strengths and weaknesses.   I will focus first on: my expertise in analyzing mediation laws here , and providing a cultural disclaimer here . Next, I'll cover

The Last 18 Months: Transition Back to the US, Into Retirement, During a Pandemic In January 2021, Qatar University College of Law advised that it would apply the Qatari retirement cap of 65 years and not renew my contract.  QU had waved the retirement cap for two years.  Even so, the news made me very sad (and a bit angry).  I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Qatar and my job as a clinical professor of law teaching college-level law students.  I loved my expat friends, my students, and all of my QU faculty colleagues.   The news forced me to plan my move back to the US.  Before the pandemic started, I had planned to retire to Chiang Mai, Thailand, a northern university town, with an ancient moat, ring roads, and elephant rescue parks to the north in the mountains.    When the country closed its borders, I considered other countries that offered retirement visas without me having to return to the US to begin the process.  I looked at Malaysia and Ecuador, but the pandemic had slowed the v

A Surge in Cases, Hospitalizations, and Deaths: Tighter Restrictions Hope to Control the Variants  Qatar's rumor mill accurately predicted that officials would impose more restrictions in early April to combat rising infections, hospitalizations, and deaths as the UK and South African variants took hold in the Qatari population.   While many people predicted officials would impose a hard lock-down, instead, the restrictions look more like a Phase 1 or Phase 1.5 lock-down.  For comparison, see my discussion of  the Phase 1 re-opening beginning on May 31  here  and here , and for the Phase 2 re-opening here . My guess is they will keep these restrictions in place through Eid to prevent an even greater surge in cases.  Last year,  officials announced that they had the virus under control in May.  Then Ramadan started, and the country saw a surge of 45,000 cases.  It tool officials another six weeks of hard lock-down to get the pandemic back under control.  The Doha News revealed that