The Convention protects a losing party against a genuinely unfair process — but not against a process it simply lost. Article V(1)(b) is the due-process ground, and the ADGM Courts apply it to real prejudice, not tactical grievance.
Notice and the right to be heard
Article V(1)(b) allows refusal where the party resisting was not given proper notice of the appointment of the arbitrator or of the proceedings, or was otherwise unable to present its case. The ground protects the two pillars of procedural fairness: knowing that the arbitration is happening, and having a real opportunity to be heard.
“Unable to present his case” is a demanding phrase
The test is not whether the process was perfect, but whether the respondent was deprived of a fair opportunity to present its position. A tribunal's case-management decisions — refusing a late document, limiting a hearing, declining an adjournment — do not ordinarily engage the ground. What does is a serious violation that actually prevented the party from putting its case: no notice at all, or a denial of any real chance to respond.
The ground answers unfairness that changed the outcome — not disappointment with a process fairly conducted.
Participation and prejudice
Two practical filters apply before the ADGM Courts. First, a lack-of-notice complaint carries weight mainly where the respondent did not participate; a party that appeared and argued cannot usually claim it was unaware. Second, the violation must have caused real prejudice — the court asks whether it could have made a difference, not whether a step could have been done better.
The practitioner's discipline
Due-process points are best preserved during the arbitration — by objecting on the record when they arise — not conjured at enforcement. A respondent that stayed silent through the hearing and raises fairness only when the award lands will find the ADGM Courts unreceptive; a creditor who has run a scrupulously fair process removes the ground before it can be pleaded.
Key instruments: New York Convention 1958 (Article V(1)(b)); UNCITRAL Model Law (equal treatment and opportunity to be heard); ADGM Arbitration Regulations 2015. General information, not legal advice.