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WHO'S WHO
Ifriqya Online Directory
An added value Directory of North African International Arbitrators & ADR practioners verified and qualified by IAF.
Sally El Sawah
Counsel & Arbitrator
Nationality: Egyptian & French
Dr. Sally El Sawah is the Co-Founder and Head of Arbitration & Litigation of Junction |Paris and the Founder of El Sawah Law |Cairo. She is Egyptian and French qualified and Registered Foreign Lawyer with the SRA in England & Wales, acting as Arbitrator, Counsel, Consultant and Legal Expert. She is also a Board Member of ArbitralWomen, the African Arbitration Association, the IBA Arab Regional Forum Committee, The ICC ADR & Arbitration Commission, the former Editor of the Africa Construction Law Blog for the North African Region, and the former Deputy Secretary General of the African Arbitration Association.
As International lawyer and Arbitrator, Dr. El Sawah has been involved in high-profile cases and projects in Egypt and the “Europe, Middle East and Africa” region (EMEA). She has gained a wealth of experience during a career spanning over nineteen years in Paris, London, and Cairo, both in reputable law firms and as an independent practitioner, particularly in practice areas such as foreign investment, construction and infrastructure, debt recovery, industrial transfers, oil and gas and renewable energy, corporate, jointventures, agency and distribution, commodities and shipping, international sale, hotel industry, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, State contracts and public international
law.
She regularly advises and appears as Counsel before French and Egyptian Courts, in projects and cases involving States, State Entities, State-owned companies, SMEs and major multinational companies in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Asia.
She works with the best practitioners in the EMEA region, offering her Clients a full range of legal services from the inception of their projects to the resolution of disputes arising from their transactions. Her extensive experience in dispute resolution is an unparalleled opportunity to advise her Clients on their investment structuring, including strategic nationality planning, so that they can mitigate investment risk and benefit from the broadest substantive and procedural protections and tax incentives under Bilateral and Multilateral
Investments Treaties and local legislations. Fluent in Arabic and having broad knowledge and experience in Egyptian law, she can easily navigate between the different laws of Arab countries, as Egyptian Law is the primary source for legislations in the Middle East. Working between Cairo, Paris and London, Dr. El Sawah has deep knowledge of these different legal, business, social and cultural environments, thus providing the best client-oriented service required. Dr. El Sawah is also a leading authority on State and International Organisations Immunities and her book on the subject, “Immunités des Etats et des organisations internationales – Immunités et procès équitable”, Larcier, Brussels, 2012, is “The Reference” for all specialists on this matter. Dr. El Sawah is laureate of the African Arbitration Association for young arbitration/ADR Practitioner for the year 2020. She is recognised by Chambers & Partners Global Guide 2022, 2023 and 2024 for expertise based abroad, by Africa Business + (Jeune Afrique) among the 100 Legal Powerlist in 2024 and 2025, by Leaders League-Africa Desk 2022 as Arbitrator with solid reputation and Décideurs as Arbitrator with solid reputation in Africa.
- Jul. 2021 – present Junction | Paris
- Co-founder and Head of Arbitration & Litigation
- Mar. 2020 – present El Sawah Law | Cairo
- Founder & Principal
- May 2019 – Mar. 2020 Youssef & Partners Attorneys, Cairo
- Partner
- Mar. 2016 – May 2019 Dr. Sally El Sawah, Paris, Cairo & London
- Independent Lawyer and Arbitrator
- Nov. 2014 – May 2015 Herbert Smith Freehills, London
- Consultant, Banking Litigation Group
- Nov. 2006 – Apr. 2014 Leboulanger & Associés, Paris
- Senior Counsel
AS PRESIDING ARBITRATOR, SOLE ARBITRATOR AND CO-ARBITRATOR
- Presiding Arbitrator in a CRCICA Case between a Swedish company and three Egyptian companies in relation to a debt rescheduling agreement governed by Egyptian law (in Arabic)
- Presiding Arbitrator in a CRCICA Case between an Egyptian Employer and an Egyptian Contractor in relation to the supply, installation, commissioning and maintenance of lifts and escalators agreement governed by Egyptian Law (in Arabic)
- Presiding Arbitrator in a CRCICA Case between an American multinational corporation and a Joint-Venture Operating company in relation to a drilling fluid services agreement governed by Egyptian law (in English)
- Presiding Arbitrator in a KIAC Case between a Chinese engineering company and an African State Authority in relation to the expansion of a new sewer network agreement governed by Tanzanian law (in English)
- Sole Arbitrator in an ad hoc arbitration (UNCITRAL) between a British Company and an Asian State in relation to a consultancy agreement in the field of regional cross-border electricity transmission governed by the laws of Afghanistan (in English)
- Sole Arbitrator in an ad hoc arbitration (UAE Arbitration Law) between a Saudi Individual and an Emirati Company in relation to a leasing agreement in the field of luxury light vehicles operation governed by the Laws of the UAE (in Arabic)
AS COUNSEL OR ADMINISTRATIVE SECRETARY (SELECTED)
- ICSID Case between a Canadian Investor and a West African State in relation to a mining license (in English)
- ICSID Case between a German multi-utility company and the State of Algeria in relation to the water privatisation and sanitation systems in Algeria (in French)
- ICSID Case between a French-Guinean Joint Venture and the State of Guinea in relation to the construction of a factory for the production and distribution of drinks (in French)
- ICSID Case between two Spanish companies and the Arab Republic of Egypt in relation to the operation of a cement factory in Egypt (in English)
- ICC Case between a Qatari Lebanese Joint Venture and a Qatari Subcontractor in relation to five contracts for the execution of microtunnelling and associated civil works under five different projects governed by Qatari law (in English)
- ICC Case between a North African State-owned company, a Portuguese bank and a Swiss bank in relation to the creation of a Joint Venture governed by Algerian Law (in French)
- UNIVERSITY OF PANTHÉON-SORBONNE (PARIS, FRANCE)
- 2009 Ph.D. with Honours in International Law
Thesis: State and International Organisations Immunities and the
Right to a Fair Trial (in French) - 2002 DEA (LLM) in Private International Law and International Business Law
- 2001 Bachelor of Laws in International Business Law
- 2009 Ph.D. with Honours in International Law
- CAIRO UNIVERSITY (CAIRO, EGYPT)
- 2001 Bachelor of Laws
- Kaplan (England & Wales, UK)
- 2017 Qualified Lawyer Transfer Scheme (MCT)
BOOK
“State and International Organisations Immunities – Immunities and the Right to a Fair Trial” (in French): “Immunités des Etats et des organisations internationales – Immunités et procès équitable”, Larcier, Brussels, 2012
ARTICLES AND NOTES
• “Note on the French Cour de cassation’s decision of 28 February 2012 on the State Immunity from Jurisdiction” (in French), Journal du Droit International, 2012/4, p. 1394
• “Egyptian Arbitration Case Law Review” (in French), Revue de l’arbitrage, 2013/1, p. 191 (with Dalia Hussein and Ismaïl Selim)
• “Note on the 13 January 2011 French Decree on Arbitration” (in English), Journal of Arab Arbitration, 2013/1, p. 3 (with Ahmed Habib)
• “Note on the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea’s decision of 15 December 2012, The Ara Libertad Case” (in French), Clunet, 2013/3, p. 857 (with Jorge E. Viñuales)
• “Note on the French Cour de cassation’s decision of 13 May 2015 on the Waiver of State Immunity from Execution” (in French), Clunet, 2016/1, p. 141 (with Philippe Leboulanger)
- Board Member of the African Arbitration Association (since July 2024)
- Board Member of AfricArb (since October 2024)
- Board Member of ArbitralWomen (since July 2022)
- The IBA Arab Regional Forum Committee: Delegate (since 2023)
- The IBA Diversity & Inclusion Committee: Delegate (2023-2025)
- The ICC ADR & Arbitration Commission (since May 2022)
- Editor of the Africa Construction Law Blog for the North African Region (2022)
- Former Deputy Secretary General of the African Arbitration Association (2021-2022)
- Egyptian Ministry of Justice: Member of the Commission of Reform of the Egyptian Arbitration Act (March – December 2022)
- EGYPT: 2002
- PARIS: 2010
- ENGLAND & WALES: 2017 (RFL WITH THE SRA)
- Arabic
- French
- English
- Norwegian : elementary proficiency
