A study at the College of Engineering at UoB: The effectiveness of integrating mediation and arbitration to resolve disputes in the construction projects sector

University of Bahrain – Sakhir (Trainer: Mohammed Majed)
4 April 2022

A scientific study at the University of Bahrain confirmed that integrating mediation and arbitration in construction project disputes is considered an innovative and effective method for resolving disputes in projects in the Kingdom of Bahrain, provided that the standard procedures for this method are followed.
The study was carried out by student Fatima Yousif in the Master’s Program in Engineering Management at the University, in completion of the requirements for obtaining a Master’s Degree in Engineering Management.
The study called on all legal practitioners and parties of conflict to deal with the method of merging mediation and arbitration (Med-Arb) as a hybrid method, and a unique product that combines the best features of mediation and the best features of arbitration, stressing that the method is not just a simple sequential process that begins with mediation and then arbitration in the traditional way.
The researcher advised that one of the most important rules of the (Med-Arb) is that the arbitrator is allowed to use the information obtained during the mediation stage in the arbitration process, and to make the arbitration decision based on “principles of fairness and justice.”
The researcher’s thesis entitled: “The Intervention of Mediation and Arbitration: A New Method of Alternative Dispute Resolution in Construction Projects in the Kingdom of Bahrain”, shed the light on mediation and arbitration as an alternative to the courts, to increase the efficiency of resolving construction project disputes in the Kingdom of Bahrain, which consists of two phases, mediation and then arbitration, combining the best of both to find solutions to the parties to the dispute.
The researcher said that: “Among the advantages that the (Med-Arb) method brings are: speed, cost reduction, confidentiality of information exchanged between the parties, their freedom to choose procedures, and also the legal imperative imposed by the mediator, which is the most important thing that (Med-Arb) has added in resolving disputes.”
The examination committee that discussed the researcher in her thesis, consisted of: a faculty member at the College of Engineering at the University of Bahrain, Dr. Khalid Abdul Rahman Al Shafei as a supervisor, Dr. Saad Mohammad Sulaiman a faculty member in the same faculty as an internal examiner, and a faculty member at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia, Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammad Al-Sugair as an external examiner.

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