Originally from The Practitioner’s Guide to Arbitration in the Middle East and North Africa

PART I

A. Arbitration Laws

1. Please identify by title and date the principal laws and regulations governing (i) domestic and (ii) international arbitration in your State.

Until 2005, arbitration in Sudan was governed by Sections 139-156 of the Civil Procedures Act 1983. In 2005, the legislature enacted and passed the Arbitration Act 2005 (the term “Act” shall hereinafter refer to the Arbitration Act 2005). All domestic and international arbitrations are governed by the Act effective June 2005.

2. Please provide an electronic link (i) to an English language translation of the laws and regulations identified in Question 1 above and (ii) to the Arabic text.

Unfortunately, there is no electronic link to Arabic or English versions of the Act—not even on the websites of the Ministry of Justice and the Judiciary.

3. Are any of the laws and regulations identified in Question 1 above based on the UNCITRAL Model Arbitration Law, including UNCITRAL’s Revised Articles? If so, is this expressly stated in the relevant laws and regulations?

The former provisions governing arbitration in the Civil Procedures Act 1983 and most of the provisions of the Act were derived from the arbitration laws in the region, in particular, from the Egyptian Laws. On the other hand, some provisions of the Act are similar to provisions in the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration. For instance, Section 9 of the Act provides that a respondent in civil proceedings should request arbitration at the first session fixed for him to submit his Answer to the Statement of Claim. A similar provision could be found in Section 8 of the UNCITRAL Law.