The QFC Regulatory Authority appointed Dr Mohammed Abdel-Aziz Al-Kulaifi to be a CDRS Independent Adjudicator in December 2017.

Dr Al-Kulaifi has been the Dean of the College of Law, Qatar University, and Associate Professor of Commercial Law, College of Law, Qatar University since 2011. He earned his LL.B from Qatar University and his LL.M and JSD from the University of California, Berkeley in the United States. He has published a number of reviewed scientific articles in the field of commercial law on topics such as bankruptcy and the acquisition of commercial companies.

Dr Al-Kulaifi has taught several law courses at Qatar University including Principles of Commercial Law, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Commercial Papers and Banking Transactions. He was a recipient of the HH the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani Award at Education Excellence Day (PhD Category) in 2012, as well as a fellowship from the Institute of International and Regional Studies at Georgetown University in Qatar for the academic year 2013-2014.

He is a Visiting Professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, where he has participated in several academic and specialised committees including the Permanent Committee for Sharia Affairs affiliated with the Cabinet of Qatar, the chief executive body of the State of Qatar’s Ministers Cabinet. In addition to his academic work, Dr Al-Kulaifi is a lawyer at the Law Office of Abdulaziz Al-Kulaifi as well as a legal consultant for several governmental and private authorities.

The QFC Regulatory Authority appointed Professor Robin Callender Smith to be the CDRS Independent Adjudicator in September 2013.

Professor Callender Smith is a member of the UK energy regulator Ofgem’s independent Enforcement Decisions Panel. He is also Chairman of the Independent Appeals Board of the premium rate telephone regulator in the UK and a non-executive lay member of the UK’s Chartered Insurance Institute. He was formerly a Deputy Chairman for the Regulatory Decisions Committee of the UK financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (formerly the Financial Services Authority).

Professor Callender Smith has worked as a barrister since 1977 after spending four years as a journalist. He is also an Information Rights Judge and an Immigration Judge and Professor of Media Law at Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL), where he completed his PhD. He spent 35 years as a media lawyer for national newspapers and ten years in the City of London dealing with significant financial takeovers and mergers as well as issues relating to compliance, corporate governance and professional standards in the financial services sector. Professor Callender Smith is a former elected member of the UK Bar Council and Gray’s Inn Barristers’ Committee. He is also a Vice President of London Youth, London’s largest youth charity.