The Arab and Islamic laws Practice Group at Guernica 37 provides expertise at the intersection of English law, Arab laws, and Islamic finance and commercial law arbitration. Itis now widely acknowledged that London has become a global centre for Islamic Finance and Banking (“IFB”), a role that is expected to expand further in the foreseeable future. Moreover, English law is often found to be the governing law in Islamic financial contracts. Given the clarifying decisions in a spate of recent cases concerning the need for specifyingnational jurisdictions in choice of law clauses, the doctrine of incorporation in English Private International Law has come to play a significant role in safeguarding the effects of Islamic law principles in contracts.

 

There are two main branches of legal services that the group can provide in relation to IFB, the first being the consummately delicate skill of legal drafting so that Islamic legal principles may be effectively incorporated in contractual instruments. The second being the provision of expert advice and evidence under CPR 35 in relation to Arab laws and Islamic commercial law principles in the context of English law jurisdiction. Members of the practice group can also accept papers in Arabic by arrangement.

 

Key focus areas inter alia include:

(a) dispute resolution and litigation in commercial and public law in relation to Islamic commercial law;

(b) Islamic finance law (e.g., Sukuk, Ijara, Musharaka, Mudaraba);

(c) cross-border arbitration under English law; and

(d) expert witness services on Islamic contract law and related finance cases.