Digital-First Alternate Dispute Resolution: How Technology is Reshaping Arbitration in GCC

Should the people resolving billion-dollar disputes still hunt for evidence in e-mail attachments? As the rulebooks go digital and arbitration in the GCC accelerates, how have the systems behind it kept up and how can they do better? Read on to find out!

Friday, 4.50 pm. A claimant files a new claim at a Gulf arbitration centre. The exhibits arrive as three e-mail attachments, a download link that expires on Monday and a USB drive. The case manager has to log every item, notify the respondent, diarise the deadlines and make sure nobody outside the involved parties is made privy to any details of the claim. Every date and event related to the case now depends on one person’s inbox, and the centre has dozens of other similar claims open simultaneously.

That moment is what arbitration software is for. In the GCC it now shapes how fast a centre can work, how securely it holds a claim and its related documents, and how consistently it applies its own rules. The evidence below suggests it also shapes how competitive a Gulf seat can be.

Arbitration software is a platform that runs a case from filing to final award, covering e-filing, document handling, scheduling, communications, hearings and reporting. Across the Gulf, the law and institutional rules now assume that such a platform exists.

The UAE offers the clearest example. Federal Decree-Law No. 15 of 2023 amended Article 28 of the Arbitration Law so that parties may choose a physical or a virtual seat, and Article 28(3) requires arbitral institutions to supply the technology that remote hearings need, in line with UAE technical standards. That duty falls on administrators, and not just on tribunals. In Saudi Arabia, Global Arbitration Review reports that the SCCA revised its rules in 2023 to emphasise technology in streamlining procedure. Bahrain’s BCDR rules provide for secure electronic filing, communications and hearings, and the Bahrain International Commercial Court, launched in November 2025, lets claimants file a statement of claim online through the national portal.

Qatar shows where the gaps remain. The 2024 QICCA Rules allow electronic submissions, digital signatures and virtual hearings, yet still require hard copies of electronic communications to be delivered to the centre under Article 4.9. A rule like that keeps the cost of paper and adds the cost of software. The benefit arrives only when the platform becomes the official record and the printout goes.

Caseload data from the region shows growing volume in Saudi Arabia, high claim values in the UAE and Qatar, and a sector mix that produces very large files. The SCCA recorded 120 new filings in 2024, up from 92 in 2023, and the SCCA reported 182 cases in 2025 and more than 200 in the first half of 2026, with average annual growth of 62% over five years, according to LexisNexis. DIAC registered 355 cases in 2023 and 295 in 2024, according to Reed Smith’s comparison of institutional data, though the reported value rose to AED 9.7 billion, around $2.6 billion USD. QICCA administered 86 arbitrations in 2024 with a combined value above QAR 2 billion.

Sector composition is as important as volume. Construction and real estate made up almost 60% of DIAC’s administered caseload in 2023, and construction and engineering accounted for 38% of the SCCA’s caseload in 2024, a year in which its parties came from 29 countries. Those disputes generate bundles of plans, schedules and expert reports. A centre that doubles its intake without redesigning its workflow can hire at the same pace or accept slower turnaround. Software offers a third option: automating the repeatable steps so that case managers spend more time on decisions.

Modern rule sets sort cases into tracks with different clocks, and tracking those clocks by hand does not scale. On 1 August 2026, the SCCA replaced its Online Dispute Resolution Procedure Rules with new Small Claims Procedure Rules. According to analysis in the Kluwer Arbitration Blog, they apply automatically where the amount in dispute is SAR 200,000 or less, give the respondent 10 days to answer, require the tribunal to issue a procedural order within five days of its constitution and call for an award within 30 days. Disputes between SAR 200,000 and SAR 4 million fall under the Expedited Procedure Rules. Globally, the ICC’s 2026 Rules, in force since 1 June 2026, dropped mandatory Terms of Reference and added opt-in Highly Expedited Arbitration Provisions that target an award within three months of the initial case management conference.

Two lessons follow. The first is operational: a registry needs a system that assigns the right track at registration and warns before a deadline passes, and a spreadsheet just will suffice across dozens of live files. The second concerns the SCCA’s new text itself, which drops the platform-specific provisions of the old ODR rules and allows communication through any electronic filing system the centre operates. The Kluwer author reads that as recognition that digital communication has become ordinary. Institutions still treating electronic filing as a pilot are already behind their own rulebooks.

AI is arriving in arbitration quickly, and acceptance will depend on transparency more than enthusiasm. The 2025 Queen Mary and White & Case survey, based on 2,402 questionnaire responses, found that 90% of respondents expect to use AI for research, data analytics and document review. Saving time was the leading driver at 54%, followed by cost reduction at 44%. The obstacles were just as clear: 51% cited undetected errors and bias, 47% claimed confidentiality or data breach risk, and 38% noted the lack of regulation or guidelines. A further 28% worried about post-award challenges on due process grounds if AI contributed to an award.

Respondents also drew a line around judgement. Some 77% considered AI acceptable for arbitrators calculating damages, costs and interest, yet only 23% approved of it drafting the legal reasoning of an award. Adding to that, rulebooks everywhere lag behind. While the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Vienna International Arbitral Centre each published AI guidance in April 2025, the ICC’s 2026 Rules contain no express provisions on AI.

For Gulf institutions the sensible response is to set expectations before disputes arise. Platforms should keep AI optional, confine it to administrative and review tasks, and log every use so that a tribunal can disclose it and a court can inspect it.

Hosting choices carry legal weight in the Gulf. Confidentiality became the default rule for arbitral proceedings in the UAE through the 2023 amendment to Article 33, which, DLA Piper notes, extends beyond the hearings and awards covered before. Users agree. 90% of Queen Mary survey respondents oppose public hearings in commercial arbitration.

Saudi Arabia adds a data-protection layer. The Personal Data Protection Law became fully enforceable on 14 September 2024 under the Saudi Data and AI Authority, whose transfer regulation sets conditions for sending personal data outside the Kingdom. An institution administering parties from many countries has to know where case data sits, who can reach it and under what safeguards. Deployment flexibility, whether on-premises or in-region cloud, along with role-based access and complete audit trails, therefore, belongs among the core features of a well-functioning arbitration platform.

Institutions should shortlist platforms that pass four tests. Can the workflow engine be configured to match the centre’s own rules, including tracks, fee schedules and deadlines, without custom code each time those rules change? Does the system keep an audit trail that holds up under scrutiny? Can it be hosted where the law and the client require? Can it extend to hearings, e-discovery and reporting without a second procurement?

Justice Accelerator’s Digital ADR Management platform is designed around those tests. It brings case management, document management, e-filing, e-discovery, virtual hearings, scheduling, payment management, e-signing, role-based access and dashboards into one system, deployable on-premises or in the cloud. Blockchain-based security is part of its toolkit, and AI integration is available as an option for institutions that want to adopt it on their own timetable. Each deployment is custom-built through a staged process that runs from requirements study to user training and support, so the centre’s own rules define the workflow.

1. What will happen to existing paper and e-mail files when a centre adopts a digital platform?

Live files should move first. Deadlines and confidentiality risk sit in open cases, so they gain priority, while closed files need only secure archive and quick retrieval. Documents usually get digitised in bulk with their metadata, such as party, date and document type, so that search works from day one. Running a few active cases in parallel on the old and new systems before cut-off lets staff test the workflow without putting a live deadline at risk.

2. Is arbitration software viable for a centre with a modest caseload?

Yes. Claim values at Gulf centres can be high, so a missed deadline or a misfiled exhibit costs more than what the volume might suggests. The BCDR registered only 45 new cases in 2022, but they were worth about $450 million (USD), an average near $10 million (USD) per file. Justice Accelerator describes its platform as modular and says its costs vary with user requirements, so a smaller centre can scope a build to its needs.

3. How can a centre tell whether the software is working?

Four numbers tell most of the story: time from filing to constitution of the tribunal, share of deadlines met without manual reminders, time to award by procedural track, and live files per case manager. Dashboards and performance reports should produce them without extra data entry, and a baseline taken before go-live gives the comparison.

4. Can one platform support arbitration, mediation and court proceedings?

Several Gulf institutions run more than one process. The BCDR administers both arbitration and mediation; DIFC Courts efficiently manages court, mediation, and pro bono proceedings through interconnected digital platforms; QICCA handles arbitration, mediation and conciliation, and Qatari law lets parties elect the QICDRC as the competent court for arbitration-related functions. Justice Accelerator states that its software supports courts, arbitration centres, mediation institutions and law firms, configured to each one’s workflows. A shared platform lets a matter move between processes without re-entering data.

The legislative case for Gulf arbitration has largely been made. SCCA caseloads have grown year after year, DIAC has administered more than 250 cases for three years running, and the 2026 rule changes at the SCCA and the ICC point the same way: faster tracks, lighter formalities and technology taken for granted. Institutions that pair those rules with a configurable, auditable and locally hosted platform will absorb growth without losing quality. Those that wait will find the rulebook has outrun the registry. Centres ready to test their own workflow against a purpose-built platform stand poised to shape the future of ADR in the region and beyond.

Sources

White & Case and Queen Mary University of London: 2025 International Arbitration Survey, Arbitration and AI

Queen Mary University of London: 2025 International Arbitration Survey

Reed Smith: Comparative Insights, 2024 Arbitration Statistics from Leading Institutions

Dubai Media Office: DIAC 2023 Annual Report review

Global Arbitration Review: Saudi Arabia, Middle Eastern and African Arbitration Review 2025

Pinsent Masons: SCCA caseload growth and judicial support

LexisNexis: SCCA appoints nine new members to SCCA Court

Kluwer Arbitration Blog: The SCCA’s 2026 small claims reform

International Chamber of Commerce: 2026 Arbitration Rules

Charles Russell Speechlys: The new 2026 ICC Rules

Hill Dickinson: Artificial intelligence in international arbitration

DLA Piper: Amendments to the UAE arbitration law

CMS: Saudi Personal Data Protection Law, one year on

Global Arbitration Review: QICCA profile, Guide to Regional Arbitration 2026

DWF: Construction insights, Qatar

Chambers: Dispute Resolution 2026, Bahrain

Linklaters: BCDR annual report

Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre: arbitration jurisdiction