2 Oct 2017
Mark Beer, Co-Chief Executive and Registrar General, DIFC Courts
From a legal perspective, you can think about technological innovation in three phases. First, when a true innovation hits the market, it often poses new legal questions around liability and applicable laws and regulations. This necessitates a second phase when regulators and lawmakers set to work to ensure the necessary legal framework is in place to protect both people and businesses. Then, third and finally, court systems step in to resolve new types of cases and disputes.
In an era of significant technological disruption, the time between phases one and three is getting shorter and shorter, putting the onus on court systems to keep pace with the direction of innovation. It was this understanding that led the DIFC Courts and Dubai Future Foundation to create the Courts of the Future Forum.
By bringing together international legal, technology and business experts several times a year in Dubai, the Forum will first seek to understand the full legal implications of rapid technological change before designing a prototype for a future commercial court that can operate anywhere in the world.
In doing so, the Forum will look to enable techpreneurs to innovate securely and with certainty that their intellectual property is protected. It will also seek to develop new smart dispute resolution services that can potentially transform the experience of using a commercial court.
When the inaugural Forum convenes in November, it will mark the start of an ambitious process to shape the future of commercial resolution and provide entrepreneurs and businesses with legal certainty in an era of rapid technological change.
For more information on the Courts of the Future Forum and its members, please visit: www.courtsofthefuture.org
