Dubai, United Arab Emirates; 7 November 2018: Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and President of the DIFC, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts today opened the Dubai conference on Court Excellence and Innovation: Today & Tomorrow, an international court excellence and legaltech conference.
For the first time ever, the International Consortium for Court Excellence (ICCE) Conference 2018 is being held in the UAE and hosted by the DIFC Courts. Building on the success of the ICCE Conference in 2017 held in Melbourne, Australia, the Dubai Conference provides delegates from around the world insight into the developments taking place in court innovation, service excellence and exploration of future technologies and their legal implications on courts internationally.
Michael Hwang SC, Chief Justice, DIFC Courts and Head, Dispute Resolution Authority (DRA), said: “Each year, courts from around the world bid to host the prestigious ICCE conference and we are honoured to have been chosen this year. This conference serves as a vital platform for leading commercial courts to work together to assist judiciaries in adopting the International Framework for Court Excellence (IFCE).
As the DIFC Courts celebrates ten years of full operations this month, we are proud to welcome delegates and speakers from around the globe to Dubai, showcasing the DIFC Courts as a jurisdiction of choice in the Middle East region and beyond. By pooling our expertise, this event allows us to work together to identify and share international best practices, while developing practical strategies that are vital to achieving judicial and service excellence.”
As a dynamic young judiciary with a focus on excellence and technology, the DIFC Courts is uniquely positioned to host an international conference that addresses the integration of technologies into the excellent administration of courts. The DIFC Courts is the first court in the MENA region to introduce technology such as e-bundling and, this year, the DIFC Courts and Smart Dubai announced a joint taskforce to create the world’s first Court of the Blockchain.
Reem Al Shihhe, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, DIFC Courts and Deputy CEO, DRA, said: “When we were selected to host this ICCE conference, our task was to achieve two important outcomes – staying true to the traditional format that gives this global event such prestige and value, but also to inject additional themes that will, in effect, benefit the global judicial community. We believe the insights into emerging legaltech will provide this added-value to attendees and drive discussion for global initiatives in the coming years.”
The two-day conference attracts over 300 attendees, including esteemed members of the judiciary, members of court registries, leading academic professionals, legal practitioners, advisors, futurists, and tech experts, from all over the world. The prestigious lineup of speakers from around the world includes H.E Tarish Eid Al Mansouri, Director General of the Dubai Courts, Reem Al Shihhe, COO, DIFC Courts & Deputy CEO, DIFC Dispute Resolution Authority (DRA); Steve Crown, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Microsoft; and Richard Susskind, renowned author and expert in the future of professional service.
