Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Without Prejudice in UAE‑Seated Arbitration: Dubai Onshore Developments, DIFC Practice, and Lessons from Dubai Cassation Case 486/2024

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Practice notes

Introduction

This practice note reviews the ‘Without Prejudice’ (WP) principle under the onshore civil law of the United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’), its policy foundations, and its application in Dubai‑seated arbitration, in light of the recent Dubai Court of Cassation Case (DCC Case) No. 486/2024. The WP doctrine traces its lineage to English common law. Among the leading authorities on WP in correspondence, the UK Court of Appeal’s decision in Walker v Wilsher (1889) 23 QBD 335 affirmed a stringent approach to WP in the nineteenth century. Concerned that the very aim of the limitation might be defeated, the Appeal Court agreed it would be ill‑advised for courts to admit as evidence the conduct of litigants contained in letters written without prejudice. At that time, there was no exception regarding costs. The formulation ‘without prejudice save as to costs’ arose much later, in the 1975 English appeal of Calderbank v Calderbank. The contemporary statement of WP is derived from an equally frequently cited authority a century later—Cutts v Head [1984] Ch 290. In Cutts v Head, the UK Court of Appeal underlined ‘…the underlying policy... [is] that parties should be’...

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Chartered Arbitrator Leonora Riesenburg , C.Arb

INTADR

Leonora Riesenburg is an independent Chartered Arbitrator, Accredited Adjudicator, Accredited Mediator, and the Practice Owner of INTADR DMCC, based in the UAE for almost 2 decades since 2007. She is also an International Tenant at 4–5 Gray’s Inn Square, London. A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) and the Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution, Leonora is widely recognised as a leading ADR practitioner across the Middle East, Asia, and the UK. Leonora specialises in high-value, complex domestic and international disputes, with particular expertise in construction and infrastructure, real estate, power and energy, investment and shareholder disputes, banking and finance, and major commercial contracts. She regularly sits as sole, presiding, and co-arbitrator in matters administered under the rules of DIAC (Dubai), HKIAC (Hong Kong), ICC (Paris), LCIA (London), SIAC (Singapore), and other leading institutions, with disputes frequently exceeding hundreds of...

Chartered Arbitrator Victor Leginsky , C.Arb

Arbitralis ADR

Victor Leginsky is a Chartered Arbitrator and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He holds a JD (Juris Doctor) degree and a B.Ed. (Bachelor of Education), both from Canada. He has served as Arbitrator in well over 130 cases, a large proportion of which are high-value construction cases and conducts both institutional and ad hoc arbitrations. He is certified as a mediator through the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (London) [CEDR] and works frequently in respect of mediation with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (London) [RICS] and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He conducts mediation including construction-related mediations. He confines his practice to that of a neutral (arbitrator/mediator), largely in construction and energy-related disputes. Victor is an elected member of the steering committee of the ICC UAE Commission on Arbitration & ADR for the term 2023-2025. He is a past MENA Chapter Director of the...

Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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