Mark Pelling KC

Mark sits as an international arbitrator and Judge in the DIFC Court of Appeal and until 23 January 2026, when he retired, he sat as a Commercial Court Judge in England and Wales, where he was also the Judge in Charge of the London Circuit Commercial Court. He tried a number of Commercial Court arbitration claims under sections 67-69 of the UK’s Arbitration Act 1996 as well as a significant number of anti-suit and anti-enforcement injunction applications in support of arbitration agreements. Well known for his commitment to the court system and legal development after leading redeployment projects streamlining processes and introduction of IT, flexible hours and utilisation pilots and programmes creating a specialist sub list with dedicated hearing windows for Arbitration Claims to ensure efficiency mainly by full time authorised judges and, instituted a monitoring system for judgments ensuring all judgments are delivered within a period of 3 months or less.  He has particular expertise in cases concerning banking and finance, insurance, construction, engineering, technology and cross border fraud.  Specialist editor of the White Book, the authoritative text book on the Civil Procedure Rules, Practice Directions and Specialist Court guides for the Courts of England and Wales.