Debevoise & Plimpton has successfully acted for Qatar in proceedings brought against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the ongoing diplomatic crisis between the two states.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) dispute – which comes after several countries cut diplomatic relations with Qatar last year – centred around allegations of human rights violations against Qatari citizens, including restrictions on access to justice and the impact on families divided by the crisis.

In June last year, the UAE – alongside Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt – imposed a land, sea and air blockade on Qatar over its alleged support for terrorism, with food imports, air travel, shipping and energy supplies disrupted.

Debevoise, which began advising Qatar in August last year, has been fielding a team comprising international dispute resolution group co-chairs Donald Francis Donovan and David Rivkin, London co-managing partner and chair of European and Asian litigation Lord Goldsmith QC, and New York litigation partner Catherine Amirfar.

The US firm acted alongside Mohammed Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, the legal adviser to the Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, while Lawrence Martin, deputy chair of  US firm Foley Hoag's international litigation and arbitration department, is also listed as an adviser to Qatar on the court documents.

The UAE, meanwhile, took advice from a line-up of lawyers including Essex Court Chambers' Malcolm Shaw QC, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld partners Natasha Kohne and Wael Jabsheh, Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle senior international consultant Tullio Treves, and Three Stone barrister Simon Olleson.

The ICJ has ordered that the UAE must ensure that families who have been separated by its actions are reunited, Qatari students affected are given the opportunity to complete their education in the UAE or are provided with educational records to continue studying elsewhere, and that Qataris affected by the measures must be allowed access to tribunals.

The court said the order "creates international legal obligations" with which the UAE must comply, and also ordered that both Qatar and the UAE refrain from actions that could aggravate the dispute during the proceedings.

In June, it was reported by Abu Dhabi-headquartered newspaper The National that Qatar had appointed Debevoise of counsel Michael Mukasey, the former US attorney general, to advise on the diplomatic crisis. Registration documents for the appointment show that Mukasey – who served as attorney general for 15 months under George W Bush – charges $1,600 an hour for his services.

Photo credit: Larry Johnson