Expertise / Disputes & Cross-Border

Venue and enforcement decide as much as the merits.

When a Somali matter turns contentious, the questions that decide it are structural: which forum, under which clause, enforced how. We run disputes with all three in view from day one — in court, in arbitration, and in the negotiations that end most of them.

RESPONSIBLE PARTNERS

Hamza I. Abdullahi
Disputes strategy · former apex-court judge

Mohamed Abdulkadir Ali
Cross-border strategy & international counsel liaison

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THE TERRAIN — READ THIS BEFORE YOUR NEXT DISPUTE CLAUSE

Framework position as at mid-2026

foreign judgments or awards enforce automatically — Somalia is not a New York Convention state

1974

the Civil Procedure Code whose provisions arbitration still runs on — modernisation consultations began late 2025

forums we run in parallel: arbitration where agreed, the Somali courts where necessary

2026

first formal steps toward a dedicated commercial court began in February — until then, the general courts decide

HOW WE HELP

The disputes practice is led by a former apex-court judge. We know what Somali forums enforce, what they re-argue, and what should never be left to implication in the first place.

Commercial litigation

Representation before the Somali courts, run to international reporting standards — your instructing team always knows the state of play.

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Arbitration

Strategy and representation under the current framework — and honest advice about what an award will and will not get you here.

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Enforcement architecture

Contracts designed for how their dispute clauses will actually be used — before signature, when it is cheap.

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Maritime & shipping disputes

Cargo, agency, charter and port-liability matters — the steadiest stream of contentious work in the market, and the hardest to serve without local court experience.

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Employment & labour disputes

Termination, severance and disciplinary matters — the single most common way international employers end up in a Somali court.

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Settlement & mediation

Contractual mediation that Somali courts and counterparties take seriously — most disputes end here, and should.

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DISPUTES / ENFORCEMENT ARCHITECTURE

Design for enforcement before you need it.

A foreign award will not enforce automatically here. Your contract has to do that work itself — we design it to.

COVERS

Dispute clauses built for actual use

Security & payment mechanics that self-execute

Mediation & escalation counterparties honour

Proof: a mediation clause enforced, escalation shut down.

Pressure-test a clause →

DISPUTES / LITIGATION

The Somali courts are a real forum. We treat them like one.

Commercial claims run where the assets and the conduct are — with files built to be read.

COVERS

Commercial claims & defence

Urgent & conservatory relief

Judgment execution

For operating disputes, often the fastest remedy.

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DISPUTES / ARBITRATION

Domestic on 1974 rails. Foreign, designed for enforcement.

Arbitration under the Civil Procedure Code, and foreign-seat strategy built backwards from the assets.

COVERS

Domestic arbitration & tribunals

Foreign-seat strategy & support

Award recognition analysis

Parallel-track strategy in live shipping matters.

Pressure-test a clause →

DISPUTES / MARITIME

Cargo, charter, collision — handled at the quay.

Shipping disputes for carriers and cargo interests, in arbitration and the Somali courts in parallel.

COVERS

Cargo & charterparty disputes

Port & operational liability

Arrest & security questions

Represented Maersk in Somalia.

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DISPUTES / EMPLOYMENT DISPUTES

The file decides. Build it early.

Employment disputes under Labour Code No. 36 — defence, settlement, and the termination files that prevent them.

COVERS

Termination & dismissal disputes

Settlement negotiation

Labour-inspectorate matters

Employer frameworks rebuilt before disputes arrive.

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DISPUTES / MEDIATION

A mediation clause is leverage — when it's real.

Structured settlement and contractual mediation, enforced as written — including against escalation outside it.

COVERS

Contractual mediation & enforcement

Structured settlement negotiation

Tiered-clause design

Held a cross-border counterparty to its clause.

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PROOF — SELECTED WORK

CASE STUDY

Acting for Maersk at Mogadishu Port

Dry-shipping disputes run in arbitration and before the Somali courts at once — and contracts drafted to hold up in both.

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SELECTED WORK

A cross-border dispute, held to its clause

For a Somali institutional client opposite European counsel: the contract's mediation clause enforced, escalation outside it shut down — the dispute resolved where the contract said it would be.

— Employment and labour disputes handled for an international humanitarian organisation

— Before co-founding Insaaf, a partner sat as an apex appellate judge and later supported the Attorney General during Somalia's ICJ maritime boundary case — decided largely in Somalia's favour in 2021

FROM SOMALIA LAW BLOG

A foreign arbitration clause is only as good as the assets behind it: contract architecture for a non–New York Convention state →

The mechanism, the workarounds, and the clause we keep rewriting

In a dispute — or heading into one?

The earlier we see it, the more options you have. Forum, leverage and settlement posture are decided in the first weeks, not the last.

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