Qatar

The next courses in the Law Society's Gulf Professional Training Programme will take place in June 2010 in Dubai and Doha. The courses, a joint initiative of the Law Society and the College of Law, are CPD accredited and led by leading trainers in the field. Each course is a full day and carries 6 hours CPD.

Following the sucess of 2008's inaugural event, the GCC expo is returning to London in June this year. The 2010 event will focus on the potential for GCC-Britain bilateral trade and offers senior decision makers from the GCC states and the UK the opportunity to update their knowledge of the GCC-UK business environment and investment climate, network with giants from key industries and develop new business opportunities.

Lord Woolf of Barnes, president of the QFC Civil and Commercial Court, has paid visit to Bahrain’s arbitration and mediation centre (BCDR-AAA). The BCDR-AAA, which opened its doors for business on January 11, became the first alternative dispute resolution centre to introduce statutory arbitration under which stipulates that cases where the amount contested exceeds $1.3 million will automatically be heard by BCDR-AAA rather than the national courts.

The Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA) has set out proposals for additional conditions on international law firms operating in the QFC in order to continue to hold or obtain new licences.