By virtue of Law No. 14 and Law No. 15 the respective
jurisdictions of the Qatar International Court
("QIC")(also known as the Civil and
Commercial Court of the Qatar Financial
Centre("QFC")) and the QFC Regulatory
Tribunal ("Tribunal") have been expanded
now to include disputes relating to the Qatar Free Zones
("QFZ") and decisions issued by the
Qatar Free Zones Authority
("QFZA").
The laws grant the QIC jurisdiction over all civil and commercial
suits relating to the QFZ, and provide the Tribunal with the
authority to hear appeals made in relation to decisions of the QFZA
regarding the revocation or suspension of licenses of QFZ
companies.
Significantly, Law No. 14 of 2021 introduced a new sub-article,
Article 8(3)(C/5) which provides that in addition to hearing
disputes involving QFC entities, the jurisdiction of the Qatar
International Court extends to civil and commercial disputes which
are related to other entities identified by law, effectively
meaning that the court's jurisdiction may be expanded by future
legislation without having to continually amend the QFC Law (Law
No. 7 of 2005).
Originally published November 29, 2021.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
