Ahmed Essa Al-Sulaiti

Biography

Ahmed Essa Al-Sulaiti is the Founder and Managing Partner of the Firm. He is a Qatari-licensed lawyer admitted to practice before all courts in the State of Qatar, and a Lecturer at the College of Law, Hamad Bin Khalifa University.

Over the course of more than fourteen years, Ahmed has built a distinguished career at the intersection of law, diplomacy, policy and commerce. He advises governments, international organizations, corporations, investors and private sector stakeholders on international trade, intellectual property, treaty negotiations, regulatory affairs, arbitration, mediation and strategic dispute resolution. His work spans WTO disputes, international negotiations, intellectual property governance, international economic law and high-level diplomatic initiatives.

Experience

Ahmed serves as Director of Qatar's Office to the WTO, WIPO and UNCTAD, and as International Law Advisor to the Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In these roles, he has represented Qatar in some of the most complex legal, commercial and policy matters in the international system. He has held leadership positions at WIPO, including President of the Berne Union Executive Committee (2022-2024), President of the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances (2025-2027), Vice Chair of the Berne Union Assembly (2020-2021) and member of the Drafting Committee for the WIPO Design Law Treaty (2024, Riyadh). He also serves as President of the International Law Association (ILA), GCC Branch.

His dispute resolution experience includes representing Qatar in multiple WTO disputes (including DS526, DS527, DS528, DS567 and DS576) and participating as a third party in over ten major WTO disputes. He has also represented Qatar in trade remedy investigations involving linear alkyl benzene, low-density polyethylene, caustic soda and melamine across multiple jurisdictions. He served as Chairperson of the WTO Anti-Dumping Practices Committee and currently serves as a Member of the WTO Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Expert Committee.

In Qatar's domestic legal system, Ahmed has extensive experience handling complex civil and criminal cases before the Qatari courts. He has represented clients across a broad spectrum of cases, including commercial disputes, contract claims, financial crimes, fraud and regulatory enforcement proceedings. His practice spans all levels of the Qatari court system, providing clients with strategic representation grounded in a deep understanding of local judicial practice.

Beyond his legal and diplomatic practice, Ahmed served as Chief Mediator in the Doha Peace Process between the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the M23 Movement, contributing to negotiations that culminated in a landmark peace agreement. He is an international arbitrator at the Qatar International Centre for Conciliation and Arbitration.

Cases and Legal Work

WTO Dispute Settlement Proceedings

Selected to represent the State of Qatar before WTO dispute settlement panels in the following proceedings:

• DS526: United Arab Emirates, Measures Relating to Trade in Goods and Services, and Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
• DS527: Bahrain, Measures Relating to Trade in Goods and Services, and Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
• DS576: Qatar, Certain Measures Concerning Goods from the United Arab Emirates.
• DS528: Saudi Arabia, Measures Relating to Trade in Goods and Services, and Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
• DS567: Saudi Arabia, Measures Concerning the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights.

Third-Party Participation in WTO Disputes

Played an integral role as a member of Qatar's legal team in the following WTO disputes:

• DS484: Indonesia, Measures Concerning the Importation of Chicken Meat and Chicken Products.
• DS493: Ukraine, Anti-Dumping Measures on Ammonium Nitrate.
• DS518: India, Certain Measures on Imports of Iron and Steel Products.
• DS544, DS548, DS550, DS551, DS552, DS554, DS556 and DS564: United States, Certain Measures on Steel and Aluminium Products.
• DS566: Russian Federation, Additional Duties on Certain Products from the United States.

Trade Remedies (Anti-Dumping Investigations)

Represented the Government of Qatar in the following trade remedy investigations:

• Linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB) from Qatar, China and India.
• Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.
• Caustic Soda from Qatar, Japan, Iran and Oman.
• Melamine from Qatar, the European Union, Japan and the United States.

International Treaty Study Groups

Selected to chair national study groups on Qatar's accession to the following international agreements:

• Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969).
• Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks.
• Brussels Convention Relating to the Distribution of Programme-Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite.
• Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks.

International Negotiations

Served as Lead Negotiator and Legal Counsel for the State of Qatar in negotiations relating to:

• WTO Negotiations on Fisheries Subsidies.
• WTO Negotiations on the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement.
• WTO Appellate Body Reform.
• Member of the Drafting Committee, representing the Asian Group, at the WIPO Diplomatic Conference to Conclude and Adopt the Riyadh Design Law Treaty (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 2024).
• WIPO Treaty for the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations.

Speaking Engagements

• Key Speaker at the High-Level Dialogue on Justice and Capacity-Building in International Law in a Fragmented World Era, held at the UN Headquarters in Geneva in collaboration with UNITAR, on Building Legal Capacity in Arab States: Strengthening Participation in International Law and Global Governance, 7 May 2025.
• Key Speaker at the Seventh IP and Innovation Researchers of Asia (IPIRA) Conference, Waseda University, Japan, on The Potential Role of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in Resolving Intellectual Property (IP) Disputes Within Qatar, Aligning with Sustainable Development Goal 16, 4-6 April 2025.
• Key Speaker at The Role of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in Resolving Intellectual Property (IP) Disputes in Qatar, in Alignment with SDG 16, co-organized by the QRDI Council, the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, the ILA GCC, the Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre and the Office of the State of Qatar to the WTO and Other Economic Organizations, Geneva, 25 February 2025.
• Key Speaker at Strengthening Institutions for Sustainable Growth: Rethinking International Investment Agreements (IIA) in the Context of QNV 2030 and the SDGs 2030, co-organized by UNCTAD, the UNESCO Chair on Environmental Law and Sustainable Development, the ILA GCC Branch and Qatar's Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Geneva, 7 February 2025.
• Guest Speaker on Middle Powers in the Digital Geoeconomic Competition at Reorienting International Economic Law for the Digital Economy, co-organized by HBKU, the Qatar National Research Fund, the American Society of International Law and the Geneva Graduate Institute, Doha, 8 January 2025.
• Keynote Speaker at the Doha Forum 2024, International Negotiation in an Age of Disruption, co-hosted by UNITAR and the ADN Group, Doha, 8 December 2024.
• Key Speaker and main organizer of the panel The Madrid Protocol and WIPO's Alternative Dispute Resolution Services for Trademark Disputes, and the Importance of Trademark Registration for Qatari SMEs, co-organized with WIPO, Qatar Development Bank, the Permanent Mission of Qatar to the UN in Geneva and the Office of the State of Qatar to the WTO and Other Economic Organizations, 8 October 2024.
• Key Speaker on Sustainable Trade and Entrepreneurship: Pathways to Re-Globalization at the WTO Public Forum, Geneva, 10-13 September 2024.
• Speaker at the International Mediation and Arbitration Conference: The Role of IP in Fostering Economic Growth, co-organized by WIPO, Qatar's Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre, Doha, 3 June 2024.
• Guest Speaker on Intellectual Property: A Catalyst for Economic and Social Development, Cooperation between WIPO and Developing States: The Example of Qatar, at the Gulf Creatives Conference, Harvard University, Boston, 10-12 May 2024.
• Key Speaker at the WTO Public Forum 2022, Towards Sustainable and Inclusive Dispute Resolution: Mediation as an Alternative to Expensive and Inconclusive Litigation, Geneva, 27 September 2022.

Publications and Academic Activities

• Author of the developing paper "The Potential Role of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in Resolving Intellectual Property (IP) Disputes Within Qatar, Aligning with Sustainable Development Goal 16", presented at the 7th IPIRA Conference at Waseda University, Japan, and published in the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice (Oxford).
• Project on Industrial Policy for Digital Development (IPDD): WTO-Compatibility, WTO Reform and the Synergies between Least Developed Countries and Emerging Economies.
• Industrial Policy for Digital Development (IPDD) Project: "Digitalization, Sustainability, and National Security in the New Geoeconomic Order", funded by a grant of the Qatar Research, Development and Innovation (QRDI) Council and supported by HBKU College of Law, Georgetown University in Qatar (GUQ), the Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College London and the Geneva Graduate Institute.
• Project article with Nicolas Binctin and Anas Fourka: "Intellectual Property: A Catalyst for Development, Cooperation between the World Intellectual Property Organization and Developing States: the Example of the Arab States", accepted for publication in Arab Law Quarterly.
• Book: Trade Restrictions, Sustainable Development and the Law: International and Regional Perspectives, co-edited with Professor Damilola S. Olawuyi, Routledge.
• Article: "WTO Members Can Save Their 'Crown Jewel': A View from the Arab World", Journal of World Trade, 2021.
• Article: "National Security and International Trade: Avoiding Abuse and Recognizing Unconventional National Security Threats" (forthcoming).
• Article: "Safeguarding International Rule of Law Through Dispute Resolution: Lessons from an Arab State in Times of Blockade", accepted for publication in the Global Journal of Comparative Law.
• "Difficulties in Defining the Concept of Investment under the Umbrella of Article 25 of the Washington Treaty 1965", Qatar International Centre for Conciliation and Arbitration journal, 2018.

Education

Academic Degrees

• Juris Doctor (J.D.), Comparative Law, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha (in partnership with Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law)
• Bachelor of Science (B.S.), International Business, Commerce and Trade, University of Tampa

Professional Certificates and Executive Education

• Certificate of Completion, Leadership for Trade Policy Program, Harvard Kennedy School
• Certificate in Public International Law, The Hague Academy of International Law
• Diploma in International Arbitration, Qatar International Centre for Conciliation and Arbitration

Languages

• Arabic (Native)
• English (Fluent)
• French (Professional)