Digital Economy Court

A new global Digital Economy Court, activated to streamline all complex civil and commercial disputes related to the worldwide digital economy.

The dedicated Court is mandated to address sophisticated national and transnational disputes related to current and emerging technologies across areas ranging from big data, blockchain, AI, and cloud services, to disputes also involving unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), 3D printing, and robotics.

Leading international judicial expertise and specialised Rules will oversee and operate the new Court’s cutting-edge digital infrastructure and service capabilities, complementing an existing portfolio of specialised Divisions, including the Technology & Construction Division and the Arbitration Division, launched by the DIFC Courts to serve an expanding demand for judicial expertise across sector-specific cases.

Why the DIFC Courts

Established in 2004, the DIFC Courts is Dubai’s international English language common law judicial system and forms a key part of the legal system of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It was established with the specific objective to enable the international community in the UAE to have greater confidence in the Emirate’s legal framework and to further strengthen investment and trade relations with Dubai and the UAE.

In 2017, the think tank Courts of the Future was launched by the DIFC Courts and the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) with a mandate to explore diverse legal technology topic areas and to provide research and thought leadership on promoting and encouraging contemporary methods of greater accessibility and efficiency to court users across the globe.

This think tank has enabled the DIFC Courts to streamline its major Court tech projects under the Courts of the Future, pooling talent and resources from global partners and experts across the fields of law, technology, and business, assembled to help courts systems accommodate and leverage emerging technologies.

Working Group

Dr. Abdelrahman AlMahmoud

Principal Big Data and Analytics Researcher, TII’s Secure Systems Research Center (SSRC)

Arun Visweswaran

Partner,
Addleshaw Goddard (Middle East) LLP

Ayesha Bin Kalban

Registrar, DIFC Courts

Daniela Bartolo

Director of Legal,
Careem

Derek Ho

Assistant General Counsel, Privacy and Data Protection, Mastercard for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa

Dhruv Paul

Group General Counsel,
noon

Ernesto Damiani

Director, Khalifa University Center for Cyber Physical Systems (C2PS)

Jochen Biedermann

Expert, World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC)

Dr Najwa Aaraj

Chief Researcher, Cryptography Research Centre, Technology Innovation Institute (TII)

Dr. Nick Roudev

Private legal practice adviser, North America, London, Europe and the Middle East

Raja Al Mazrouei

Digital Transformation Leader, Financial Technology
Executive, Advisor, Board Member
Dubai United Arab Emirates

Dr. Robin Callender Smith

Honorary Professor, Media Law, Queen Mary University of London

Tarek Nakkach

General Counsel,
MEA, Kyndryl

Sergiu Popa

Cybersecurity and blockchain expert

Shamsh Hadi

CEO and co-founder of ZorroSign Inc

DEC Moot Court Competition

From November 26 – 27, 2022, the DIFC Courts held a virtual Moot Court, inviting 18 teams of international law students and 25 qualified judges to hold a two-day competition to test-proof the new Digital Economy Court (DEC) Rules across a dispute involving cryptocurrency.

Through their participation in the DEC Moot, students gained valuable insight into the newly launched DEC Rules and at each stage of the competition students received valuable constructive feedback from leading legal professionals. Participation in the competition provided students with the opportunity to hone their written and oral advocacy skills, strengthen their legal knowledge, improve their analytical skills and acquire practical experience in applying legal rules to complex disputes.

Crossroads of the Global Economy

Specialised
international judges

Specialised
Court Rules

Advanced digital
infrastructure

English language
common law jurisdiction

Neutral global
location

OPT-IN

  • In 2011, the jurisdiction of the DIFC Courts was extended beyond the financial centre for international businesses, thereby enabling any two parties from any global location to use the DIFC Courts by opting-in to this neutral global jurisdiction.

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Dr. Abdelrahman AlMahmoud

Principal Big Data and Analytics Researcher, TII’s Secure Systems Research Center (SSRC)

Dr. Abdelrahman AlMahmoud is a Principal Cloud and Big Data Researcher in TII’s Secure Systems Research Center (SSRC) where he currently leads the Secure Cloud and Machine Learning team. AlMahmoud has worked in the research domain for close to 10 years covering topics such as Big Data computing paradigms, privacy-preserving analytics/machine learning, cyber security, and robotics where he has a number of publications and granted patents in the domain.

Dr. Abdelrahman has also served in the Artificial Intelligence Office in the Prime Minister’s Office as an Advisor/Head of Research and Infrastructure where he worked on several national and international initiatives including the AI Lab and AI Code Hub.

Abdelrahman was also a member of the UAE Youth Science Council, Scientific Sub-Committee member in the Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences (11th term, AI in Medicine) and is also a member of the UAE’s steering committee for the ISO SC42 working group for AI, technical committee member for The Digital School initiative under Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives.

Arun Visweswaran

Partner,
Addleshaw Goddard (Middle East) LLP

Arun is a Senior Associate at Clifford Chance, Dubai and has been based in Dubai since 2013 having previously trained with the firm in London and Singapore.  Arun specialises in international commercial arbitration and litigation and has acted on complex multi-jurisdictional disputes across a wide range of sectors. He also co-leads Clifford Chance’s technology practice in the Middle East and advises clients on complex tech disputes and on data protection and cyber security related investigations.

Arun is licensed to appear before the DIFC Courts and has conducted advocacy before the DIFC Court of Appeal and also arbitration and dispute adjudication proceedings in various forums.  Arun has edited the authorised commentary on the DIFC Law of Obligations (2nd edition) and is the editor of the Guide to Company Directors (a practitioner’s text on Indian company law) – both Lexis Nexis publications.

Arun is a solicitor of England and Wales and holds a law degree from Kings College London  and is also a qualified engineer with a degree in electronics and communication engineering.  Arun is the Chairperson of the CIArb UAE Young Members Group, a member of the global steering committee for the CIArb YMG and the Middle East Representative of the LCIA YIAG.

Ayesha Bin Kalban

Registrar, DIFC Courts

Ayesha was appointed as a Registrar of the DIFC Courts in November 2022. She currently oversees case progression at the DIFC Courts, as well as sitting as a judge and mediator with the Small Claims Tribunal (SCT). Ayesha also hears applications in the Court of First Instance, Court of Appeal and the Enforcement Department. Ayesha also oversees the day-to-day function of the DIFC Courts Wills Service.

Ayesha joined the DIFC Courts in the role of Case Progression Officer in March 2015 and was promoted to the role of Assistant Registrar in 2018. In 2019, Ayesha was appointed as the Deputy Registrar of the Small Claims Tribunal and in 2020 Ayesha was appointed Deputy Registrar of the DIFC Courts.

Ayesha holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Law and Political Science from University of Saint Joseph Dubai and studied on a scholarship from the Edad Leadership Programme. She is also qualified to appear before the local and federal courts in the UAE.

Daniela Bartolo

Director of Legal,
Careem

Daniela is a Director of Legal at Careem, which is currently present in 13 markets in the MENAP region.  In her role, she advises on strategic technology projects, launch of new business verticals and the development and implementation of Careem’s privacy program.

Prior to joining Careem, Daniela served as Legal and Regulatory counsel at Etisalat and Vodafone, where she advised on the telecommunications regulatory framework, with a focus on data protection, consumer protection, deployment of fixed and mobile infrastructure, data centre facilities, spectrum licensing, IoT, VoIP applications and international connectivity agreements.

Daniela holds a Master’s degree in Corporate and Securities Law (University of London), an MBA and a Doctor of Laws degree (University of Malta). She is also a Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM).

Derek Ho

Assistant General Counsel, Privacy and Data Protection, Mastercard for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa

Derek Ho is the Assistant General Counsel for privacy and data protection at MasterCard for the Asia Pacific and Middle East Africa regions. Derek is a Singapore qualified lawyer and he specialises in privacy and data protection, technology and telecommunications law. Prior to MasterCard, Derek held senior legal positions in multinational companies in the Asia Pacific region, and was part of Drew & Napier LLC’s telecommunications, media and technology practice in Singapore. Derek is also a member of the Singapore Personal Data Protection Commission’s (PDPC) Advisory Committee on Data Protection. Derek graduated from the National University of Singapore, and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional and a Certified Information Privacy Manager.

Dhruv Paul

Group General Counsel,
noon

Dhruv Paul is dual qualified in England & Wales and India and specializes in structuring and implementing complex corporate and finance transactions across multiple sectors, industries, and jurisdictions.  Having previously worked in renowned international law firms, he is currently Group General Counsel at noon.  noon is the Middle East’s leading homegrown full-fledged digital ecosystem offering various compelling consumer options, including the region’s #1 homegrown marketplace (delivering everything from electronics to beauty) and a q-commerce delivery platform (offering FMCG & groceries with delivery in 15- minutes).

Ernesto Damiani

Director, Khalifa University Center for Cyber Physical Systems (C2PS)

Ernesto Damiani is a Full Professor at Università degli Studi di Milano (Italy), Senior Director of the Robotics and Intelligent Systems Institute, and Director of Center for Cyber Physical Systems (C2PS) within Khalifa University (UAE). He is the leader of the Big Data area at Etisalat British Telecom Innovation Center (EBTIC), and President of the Consortium of Italian Computer Science Universities (CINI). He is also part of the ENISA Ad-Hoc Working Group on Artificial Intelligence Cybersecurity. Ernesto’s areas of interest include cyber-physical systems, Big Data Analytics, Edge/Cloud security and performance, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning.

Ernesto Damiani has pioneered model-driven data analytics. He has authored more than 660 Scopus-indexed publications and several patents. Ernesto has been a recipient of the Research and Innovation Award from the IEEE Technical Committee on Homeland Security , of the Stephen Yau Award from the Service Society, of the Outstanding contributions Award from IFIP TC2, of the Chester-Sall Award from IEEE IES, of the IEEE TCHS Research and Innovation Award, and of a doctorate honoris causa from INSA – Lyon (France) for his contribution to Big Data teaching and research.

Jochen Biedermann

Expert, World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC)

Managing Director, World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC) www.waifc.finance

Founder & CEO, Blockchain Asia, Hong Kong  www.blockchain–asia.com  

Managing Partner, FinTech Consult, Amsterdam/Doha/Frankfurt/Hong Kong/

Kigali/Seoul/Singapore/Tel Aviv/Vienna/Vilnius www.fintech–consult.com  

Senior Advisor, Frankfurt Main Finance www.frankfurt–main–finance.com

Expert, Sino-German Center for Finance and Economics, Frankfurt  sgc.frankfurt–school.de

Fellow, Think Tank der Asian Financial Cooperation Association, Beijing  www.afca–asia.org

Mentor, Qatar FinTech Hub, Doha fintech.qa

Mentor, OneEleven, Toronto www.oneeleven.com

Mentor, Plug & Play Tech Center, Frankfurt www.plugandplaytechcenter.com

Mentor, Accelerator Frankfurt www.acceleratorfrankfurt.com

LinkedIn:    www.linkedin.com/in/jochenbiedermann

Twitter: @jochenbiederm, @WAIFC_, @blockchainasia, @fintech_consult

Since 2018, Jochen Biedermann serves as Managing Director of the World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC), an international non-profit association registered in Brussels, representing 21 leading international financial centers across four continents. WAIFC members are governments agencies, associations, and similar institutions developing and promoting their financial centers. WAIFC facilitates cooperation between its members, exchanging best practices, and communication with the general public.

Also, Jochen is the CEO of Blockchain Asia Ltd., a Blockchain company founded in Hong Kong in 2016.

He serves as an expert to the Sino-German Center for Finance and Economics in Frankfurt, backed by the central banks, government institutions, and leading universities in China and Germany. He is also a Fellow of the Think Tank of the Asian Financial Cooperation Association, based in Beijing.

Jochen is a long-standing advisor at Frankfurt Main Finance e.V., the Frankfurt financial center initiative. Furthermore, he is a mentor at the Qatar FinTech Hub, OneEleven in Toronto, the Plug and Play Tech Center, and the Accelerator Frankfurt.

From 1999 to 2013, Jochen worked for Deutsche Boerse Group. As SVP for International Affairs, he oversaw its business in emerging markets.

Jochen holds a diploma in mathematics & computer science from the University of Goettingen and a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Cottbus, Germany.

Dr Najwa Aaraj

Chief Researcher, Cryptography Research Centre, Technology Innovation Institute (TII)

Dr Najwa Aaraj is the Chief Researcher at the Cryptography Research Centre at the Technology Innovation Institute (TII). Dr Aaraj leads the research and development of cryptographic technologies, including post-quantum cryptography software libraries and hardware implementations, lightweight cryptographic libraries, cryptanalysis, and applied machine learning for cryptographic technologies. She is also Acting Chief Researcher at TII’s Autonomous Robotics Research Centre.

Dr Aaraj earned a PhD with Highest Distinction focused on Applied Cryptography and Embedded Systems Security from Princeton University (USA). She has extensive expertise in applied cryptography, trusted platforms, security architecture for embedded systems, software exploit detection and prevention systems, and biometrics. She has over 15 years of experience with global firms, working in multiple geographies from Australia to the United States.

Before TII, Dr Aaraj was Senior Vice President at DarkMatter, a cyber-security leader based in the UAE. She was formerly at Booz & Company, where she worked with clients globally. She also held a Research Fellow position with the Embedded Systems Security Group at IBM T.J. Watson Security Research in NY, and with the Intel Security Research Group in Portland, Oregon, where she worked on Trusted Platform Modules.

Dr Aaraj is on the advisory board of New York-based Neutigers, a leading-edge startup revolutionising the next generation of energy/latency-efficient artificial intelligence (AI). She is also Adviser within the Strategic Advisory Group at Paladin Capital Group (Cyber Venture Capital) and Adjunct Professor at the Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (Machine Learning Research Group). In addition, she is an Adviser to multiple security and Machine Learning startups including Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University.

She received a Special Recognition award at the Arab Woman Awards 2021, held in partnership with the United Nations to recognise the notable achievements of the region’s women.

Dr. Nick Roudev

private legal practice adviser, North America, London, Europe and the Middle East

Dr. Nick Roudev has over a decade of experience in private legal practice advising large multinational companies, governmental and inter-governmental entities on legal issues arising in the context of innovative technologies at some of the world’s leading law firms in North America, London, Europe and the Middle East. In particular, Nick is a recognized expert in the region with considerable experience in digital payments, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, space law and digital media, and has advised on a number of high profile transactions in these areas.

Prior to joining the legal profession, Nick had a career in academic where his research focused on theories of optimal public policy design and regulation, specifically in the context of fostering innovation and growth.

Raja Al Mazrouei

Digital Transformation Leader, Financial Technology
Executive, Advisor, Board Member
Dubai United Arab Emirates

Raja Al Mazrouei is a visionary and influential executive within the finance and technology sectors. Her entrepreneurial spirit and passion for progression have been the driving force behind her achievements and continue to fuel her ambition to reinforce further the UAE’s position as an innovation destination on the global stage.

With over a decade of experience in the financial services sector, Raja has developed an ecosystem for FinTech entrepreneurs and stakeholders in Dubai, a primary contributor in the emirate named a top ten global FinTech hub. Her marketing & communications expertise has enabled her to bring brands to life and foster communities to create business opportunities and societal impact for the Fintech sector.

Raja held senior positions within the IT, Operations, and Marketing teams at different organizations, including Dubai Holding, the National Bonds Corporation, and the Dubai International Financial Centre.

As Executive Vice President of FinTech Hive, she brings together leading financial institutions, government entities, technology partners, Venture Capital and Funds, and entrepreneurs to realize a common goal in driving the UAE’s national innovation agenda and shaping the future of financial services. Today, Raja stands at the helm of one of the region’s most successful financial technology hubs and has contributed significantly to building a vibrant and dynamic community of over 350 startups operating in Dubai International Financial Centre.

The rapid growth of the FinTech Hive under Raja’s leadership has been recognized globally, with it ranked as one of the world’s best financial innovation labs by Global Finance Magazine. In addition, she has been named one of the top 100 Women in FinTech by Innovate Finance, the 50 Most Influential Women in Middle East Finance by Dow Jones’ Financial News, the top 100 Power Businesswomen in The Middle East by Forbes, and MENA Fintech Leader of the year by Entrepreneur magazine.

Raja is an executive graduate of the Harvard Business School (HBS), serves as a member of the Harvard Business School MENA Advisory Board, and Vice President of the HBS Club for the GCC. In addition, she holds positions on the boards of Dubai FinTech Ventures and Al Masraf Arab Bank for Investment & Foreign Trade. Raja is a Member Board of Trustees of Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government

Dr. Robin Callender Smith

Honorary Professor, Media Law, Queen Mary University of London

Dr Robin Callender Smith FCIArb is Honorary Professor of Media Law at Queen Mary, University of London and also works as a media lawyer for online and international national publications including The Times, and The Sunday Times in London.

He is a data privacy expert and a former Data Protection & Freedom of Information Appeals Judge who has also held senior independent positions as a UK Regulator in the energy (Ofgem), financial (Financial Conduct Authority), insurance (Chartered Insurance Institute) and telecommunications (Phonepaid Services Authority) sectors.

He is an Adjudicator for the Society for Computers and the Law (SCL)’s Technology Media and Communications Panel and the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority’s Customer Dispute Resolution Scheme (CDRS).

He is a Barrister (Gray’s Inn), a former member of the Bar Council and author of Celebrity and Royal Privacy, the Media and the Law (Sweet & Maxwell 2015) and Co-Editor of the Encyclopaedia of Data Protection and Privacy. His current work involves the UK’s Online Safety legislation as well as international aspects of data protection and privacy law.

He led the Council of Europe (CoE) expert team from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Italy, Moldova and UK reporting to the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan in Astana on the access, data protection, privacy and transparency measures required to improve Open Justice in civil and criminal judicial decision-making.

Tarek Nakkach

General Counsel,
MEA, Kyndryl

Tarek is an award-winning General Counsel, winner of the Association of Corporate Counsel Top 10 30-Somethings award and chosen as one of the most influential General Counsels in the Middle East by the Legal 500 GC Powerlist for promoting AI, technology and law.

He heads the Middle East and Africa legal team for Kyndryl based in Dubai. He is a technology, Artificial Intelligence & Law expert and a regular speaker at international and regional conferences.

Fellow at the Assuring Autonomy International Programme, University of York in the UK. The Programme focuses on assurance and regulation of Robotics and Autonomous Systems.

Sergiu Popa

Cybersecurity and blockchain expert

Experience: Cybersecurity specialist (redteaming specialty) with more than 15 years of experience, mostly with the goverment sector Blockchain specialist (lead architect and crypto-cyber) Investment banking consultant (energy security, crypto backed assets) Extensive experience in the field of social media (A.I/M.L — deep fakes)

Education: PhD Mathematics (differential equations specialty)

Shamsh Hadi

CEO and co-founder of ZorroSign Inc

Shamsh Hadi is an award-winning technologist, CEO and co-founder of ZorroSign, Inc.—a Dubai based global company producing a multi-chain blockchain platform uniting digital signatures with identity-as-a-service (IDaaS), patented fraud prevention, and AI/ML technologies to ensure legally enforceable digital transactions. He is a life long learner and has affiliations with Harvard Business School, Cornell University and the University of Waterloo. Hadi’s career has been committed to data democratization and the advancement of technology that also advances sustainability and conservation.

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