ADGM-Seated Arbitration: the ADGM Courts, arbitrateAD & the ICC

The Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) is a common-law arbitral seat within the UAE, governed by the ADGM Arbitration Regulations 2015 (UNCITRAL Model Law-based, amended in 2020) and supervised by the ADGM Courts. It is distinct from a DIFC seat (the DIFC Arbitration Law and DIAC) and from an onshore UAE seat (Federal Arbitration Law No. 6 of 2018). The region’s main institution, arbitrateAD (the relaunched Abu Dhabi International Arbitration Centre, new Rules from 1 February 2024), now takes ADGM as its default seat, and the ICC runs a case-management office at ADGM; the ADGM Arbitration Centre itself is a hearing venue, not an administering institution. ADGM-seated awards are enforced under the Regulations and the New York Convention, and onshore through the ADGM Courts’ enforcement memoranda. For India-facing parties, seat selection and the enforcement strategy in India are best considered together at the contract stage – we advise on both.

How an ADGM seat works, who administers it, and how an ADGM award travels.

At a glance

• Seat law: ADGM Arbitration Regulations 2015 (amended 2020) – UNCITRAL Model Law
• Supervisory court: the ADGM Courts (set-aside on limited Model-Law grounds; no merits review)
• Institutions: arbitrateAD (default seat ADGM; 2024 Rules) and the ICC (case-management office at ADGM); the ADGM Arbitration Centre is a hearing venue only
• Enforcement: the New York Convention (UAE acceded 2006); onshore via the ADGM–Abu Dhabi (2018) and ADGM–Dubai (January 2025) court memoranda
• Versus: DIFC (DIAC; DIFC Arbitration Law) · onshore (Federal Arbitration Law No. 6 of 2018)
• India note: enforcement of a UAE/ADGM-seated award in India involves threshold issues under Indian law – considered as part of seat and enforcement strategy

1. What it means to seat an arbitration in the ADGM

The ADGM is a financial free zone in Abu Dhabi that applies English common law directly, with its own independent courts. Choosing the ADGM as the seat of an arbitration fixes two things: the curial (procedural) law is the ADGM Arbitration Regulations 2015, and the supervisory court is the ADGM Courts. The seat is the juridical home of the arbitration – it determines which court supports and supervises the process and on what grounds an award can be challenged. It is separate from the venue (where hearings are physically held) and from the governing law of the contract (which can be any law the parties choose). An ADGM seat appeals to parties who want a neutral, English-language, common-law framework inside the UAE, close to the assets and counterparties of the region but outside the onshore civil-law system.

2. The ADGM Arbitration Regulations 2015

ADGM-seated arbitration runs on the ADGM Arbitration Regulations 2015, a modern, UNCITRAL Model Law-based statute. They were updated by Amendment No. 1 of 2020, which added a set of pro-arbitration features that remain current: confirmation that parties can opt in to an ADGM seat without any prior ADGM connection; relaxed formalities for the arbitration agreement and express validation of asymmetric/optional clauses; a summary-disposal power allowing a tribunal to dismiss claims or defences with no real prospect of success; third-party-funding disclosure; rules on counsel conduct; and express provision for virtual hearings and electronically signed awards. The Regulations follow the Model Law’s principle of minimal court intervention – the ADGM Courts assist and supervise, but do not interfere with the merits. (Specific section numbers should be confirmed against the current Regulations at the time of use.)

3. The ADGM Courts – supervision, challenge and support

The ADGM Courts are the supervisory court for an ADGM-seated arbitration. Their role is deliberately limited. An award can be set aside only on the narrow Model Law grounds – incapacity of a party, invalidity of the arbitration agreement, lack of proper notice or inability to present a case, an award going beyond the matters submitted, or an irregular tribunal or procedure – together with non-arbitrability or conflict with UAE public policy. The application must generally be made within three months, and the Court does not re-examine the merits, in fact or law. On the supportive side, the ADGM Courts (and the tribunal) can grant interim and conservatory measures and assist in taking evidence – and the Court’s power to support can extend even where the seat is outside the ADGM or no seat has yet been designated. Arbitrators and institutions have qualified immunity, liable only for conscious or deliberate wrongdoing.

4. The institutions – arbitrateAD, the ICC, and the ADGM Arbitration Centre

Three names are easily confused, and they do different things:

• arbitrateAD – the Abu Dhabi International Arbitration Centre, the relaunch of the former Abu Dhabi Commercial Conciliation and Arbitration Centre (ADCCAC), with new Arbitration Rules in force from 1 February 2024. It is an independent administering institution (its own Court of Arbitration, secretariat, case-management platform and award scrutiny). Significantly, under its 2024 Rules the default seat – where the parties have not agreed one – is the ADGM, a deliberate move from the previous onshore default. So an arbitrateAD arbitration now lands, by default, in the ADGM common-law framework with the ADGM Courts supervising.
• The ICC – the International Chamber of Commerce runs a case-management office at the ADGM (operational since 2021), giving ICC-administered arbitrations on-the-ground regional support. An ICC arbitration can be seated in the ADGM, with the ADGM Courts supervising.
• The ADGM Arbitration Centre – a hearing venue (state-of-the-art physical, virtual and hybrid facilities), not an administering institution. Any arbitration under any rules can use it; it does not appoint arbitrators or run cases.

5. Clause drafting and the seat-versus-venue trap

Because the seat carries such weight, the arbitration clause should state it expressly. Two traps recur. First, seat is not venue: agreeing to “hearings at the ADGM Arbitration Centre” does not necessarily make the ADGM the seat – the seat must be named in its own right. Second, the default seat can surprise you: under the arbitrateAD 2024 Rules an unspecified seat defaults to the ADGM, which may not be what an onshore-focused party expected. The ICC dimension adds a further point – the ADGM courts have treated an ICC arbitration connected to the ICC’s ADGM office as seated in the ADGM where the clause was ambiguous, so parties who intend a different seat should say so clearly. A well-drafted ADGM clause names the seat (the ADGM), the institution and rules (arbitrateAD or the ICC, or ad hoc/UNCITRAL), the governing law of the contract separately, and the number of arbitrators and the language.

6. Enforcing an ADGM-seated award

An ADGM-seated award is enforced in two theatres. Internationally, it is a New York Convention award – the UAE acceded to the Convention in 2006 without reservation – so it can be recognised in the 170-plus Convention states, subject only to the narrow Article V grounds of refusal. Within the UAE, the ADGM Courts recognise and enforce ADGM-seated and Convention awards under the Regulations, and a party that could have applied to set an award aside cannot instead resist its enforcement. To reach assets onshore, the ADGM Courts’ enforcement memoranda carry a ratified award across the court boundary without a re-hearing of the merits: into onshore Abu Dhabi under the ADGM–Abu Dhabi Judicial Department memorandum (2018), and into Dubai under the ADGM–Dubai Courts memorandum signed in January 2025 (which closed the previous gap in ADGM-to-Dubai enforcement). Note the distinction from the DIFC: the ADGM is not a general “conduit” for enforcing unrelated foreign awards – that is addressed on our enforcement pages.

7. ADGM, DIFC or onshore – choosing the seat

The UAE offers three arbitral seats, and the choice shapes the whole process.

All three are Model Law-based and Convention-backed, so an award from any of them is internationally enforceable. The practical choice turns on the parties’ preference for a common-law or civil-law framework, the institution and its default seat, where the counterparties and assets sit, and the language of the proceedings. (For the litigation-forum equivalent – which courts to choose for a dispute – see our forum-choice page.)

8. The India dimension

For India-facing parties the enforcement picture is asymmetric and needs care.

An Indian award enforced in the ADGM is straightforward: India is a New York Convention state, and the ADGM Courts enforce Convention awards under the Regulations.

Enforcement of a UAE-seated award in India: we advise on the recognition and enforcement in India of UAE-seated arbitral awards, including the threshold, procedural and asset-recovery issues that may arise under Indian law.

Frequently asked questions

Last reviewed: July 2026. This page provides general legal information, not legal advice on any specific matter.