Contact Us
Great things in business are never done by one person. They're done by a team of people.
WHO'S WHO
Ifriqya Online Directory
An added value Directory of North African International Arbitrators & ADR practioners verified and qualified by IAF.
Sami Houerbi
Counsel & Arbitrator
Nationality: Tunisian/French
Sami Houerbi began his legal career in 1992 in Munich and Paris, specializing in French and German law. From 1999 to 2005, he joined the Secretariat of the ICC Court of Arbitration, where he managed numerous international arbitration cases.
Since 2006, Sami has acted as counsel and arbitrator in various arbitration cases under multiple institutional rules, including ICC, DIAC, SAC, CAM, CRCICA, etc. In 2008, he founded Houerbi Law Firm, focusing on business, energy, and construction law, as well as international dispute resolution.
- Sami Houerbi started his legal career in 1992 with French and German law firms in Munich (Germany) and in Paris (France).
- From 1999 to 2005, he was deputy counsel to the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), where he was responsible for the management and supervision of hundreds of international arbitration proceedings.
- From 2005 to 2021, Sami acted as Arbitration and ADR Director of the ICC International Court of Arbitration for the Mediterranean, Middle East, and Africa.
- Sami has acted regularly since 2006 as Counsel and arbitrator under ad hoc and institutional international arbitrations under the ICC Rules, DIAC, SAC, DIS, CAM, ACIC, and CRCICA.
- In 2008, he founded Houerbi Law firm, where he developed recognized expertise in the fields of business, energy and construction law, and international dispute resolution.
- Sami is a Court Member at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre (LACIAC), a Board member of the Tehran Regional Arbitration Center (TRAC), and a Member of the Panel of Arbitrators of Hong Kong Arbitration Center (HKIAC) and Shanghai Arbitration Center (SHIAC).
- He has been appointed as an ICC Court Member for the 2024–2027 mandate and serves on the Board of the newly revived ICC Tunisia.
- LL.M., University of Ludwig Maximilian (Munich, Germany)
- Postgraduate Diploma in International Law at Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas (Paris, France)
- First Law Degree at Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas (Paris, France)
- Pre-Law Degree at the University of Saarbrucken (Saarbrucken, Germany)
- Sole Arbitrator in an ICC arbitration between a UAE industrial manufacturer and a Turkish machinery production company.
- Sole Arbitrator in a CAM arbitration involving an Italian company and an American company over a distributorship agreement.
- Sole Arbitrator in an ICC arbitration arising out of a distributorship agreement between an Italian company and a Jordanian company.
- Sole Arbitrator in an ICC arbitration involving a Moroccan construction company and an African State.
- Sole Arbitrator in an ICC arbitration between a Saudi services company and an Egyptian engineering company in a dispute concerning a distributorship agreement.
- Sole arbitrator in an ACIC arbitration between an Iranian company and an Italian company regarding a distribution agreement.
- Chairman of the arbitral tribunal in an ACIC case between an Iranian company and two companies, one Ukrainian and one Iranian.
- Presiding Arbitrator in an ad hoc arbitration in London between two Saudi construction companies under English law.
- Chairman of an arbitral tribunal in a CRCICA arbitration between an Egyptian financial services company and a Saudi private party.
- Presiding Arbitrator in a CRCICA arbitration between a Saudi airline and an Egyptian tour operator.
- Presiding Arbitrator in an ad hoc arbitration based in London involving a Lebanese contractor and a Qatari investor.
- Presiding Arbitrator in a DIAC arbitration concerning the construction of Terminal III at Dubai International Airport.
- Presiding Arbitrator in a CRCICA arbitration involving an Egyptian architectural, engineering, and related services company and an Egyptian petroleum company, alongside a Virgin Islands petroleum exploration and exploitation company.
- Co-arbitrator in an ad hoc arbitration between a South Korean company and two Tunisian companies in a dispute against another Tunisian company.
- Co-arbitrator in a DIAC arbitration between a UAE company specialized in trading refined petroleum products and a UAE oil and storage company.
- Co-arbitrator in an ad hoc arbitration based in London between a Saudi company and a Hong Kong-based company regarding a dispute regarding a distributorship agreement under English Law.
- Co-Arbitrator in an ad hoc arbitration concerning a French company and a Tunisian state-owned entity related to the construction of a power plant in Tunisia.
- Co-Arbitrator in a UNCITRAL arbitration involving a German company and an Egyptian company concerning environmental measures at an Egyptian power plant.
- Counsel in an ICC arbitration between a Tunisian company and a Tunisian public authority.
- Counsel in an ICC arbitration between a Tunisian public company and a Spanish public construction company in a dispute relating to a sewage treatment plant.
- Counsel in an ICC arbitration between a Tunisian accounting firm and one of the “Big Four” international audit groups.
- Counsel in an ad hoc arbitration between a state-owned company in Burkina Faso and a French company in a dispute over the 2007 Public Energy Sector Law.
- Counsel in an ad hoc arbitration between a Libyan construction company and the Libyan Ministry of Health regarding the construction of a university hospital.
- Co-arbitrator in an ad hoc arbitration between an Iranian construction company and a UAE-Swiss consortium in a dispute relating to the civil and construction works of a power plant in Iran.
- Co-Arbitrator in an ICC arbitration involving a Tunisian real estate development company and a Tunisian-French private party.
- Counsel in an ICC arbitration case between a Turkish Company manufacturer and the Tunisian state along with the Tunisian Ministry of Interior.
- Counsel in an ICC arbitration opposing an Italian olive oil distributor to a Tunisian Olive Oil export company.
- Counsel in an ICC arbitration opposing a Tunisian company for the exploitation of hydrocarbons by a public Tunisian Company.
- Co-Arbitrator in an ADCCAC arbitration between an Emirati construction company and an Emirati real estate company regarding infrastructure works for a major real estate project in Abu Dhabi.
- 2024 – 2027: Member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration
- 2021 – present: Board Member of the African Arbitration Association (AfAA)
- 2022: Founder & current President of Ifriqya Arbitration Forum
- 2021 – present: Court Member of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre (LACIAC)
- 2021 – present: Board Member of the Tehran Regional Arbitration Centre (TRAC)
- 2001: Admitted at the Tunis Court of Appeals
- Contributor to the book “Arbitration in North Africa: An Overview, in Arbitration in Africa: A Practitioner’s Guide”, Wolter Kluwer, 1st edition, 2013.
- Contributor to the book “Arbitration in North Africa: An Overview, in Arbitration in Africa: A Practitioner’s Guide”, Wolter Kluwer, 2nd edition, 2021.
- Contributor to the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) Project “Does a Right to a Physical Hearing Exist in International Arbitration?”.
- Contributor to the ICC Dispute Resolution Bulletin entitled “Sorelec v. Libya: A call for Vigilance to prevent Corruption in Investor-State Arbitration”, Issue 2, 2021.
- Co-author of an article titled “TPF beyond COVID-19: What can we expect in the post pandemic scenario?” published in the Commercial Law Centre of the University of Nottingham.
- Arabic (native)
- French (fluent)
- English (proficient)
- German (proficient)
