Global Compliance

Civil Court Procedures in UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) laws are based on a civil law system. The civil procedures in UAE is regulated in the Federal Law number 11 of 1992 regarding the issuance of Civil Procedure Law (the Civil Procedure Law). Free zones, such as DIFC have their own courts and procedures.

If you want to file a claim or reply to a court notice, you need to know the procedures of adjudication. How do you initiative a civil action, to which court are you supposed to turn to and how does the process look like is just some things you should know? The Civil Procedure Law regulates the procedure for civil proceedings in the UAE Courts. The Civil Procedure Law applies to civil, commercial and personal status matters brought to the UAE Courts of First Instance.

UAE Civil Court’s Jurisdiction

It is vital that the Court in which you file the case has authority to hear the case. Therefore, the litigant should make sure that he is submitting the claim to the right court. According to Article 20 of the Civil Procedure Law, the Courts of First Instance have jurisdiction over cases filed against people who have his home or place of residence in the UAE. According to Article 31 of the Civil Procedure Law, the authority is for the court of the area where the defendant is a resident or employed, in those cases, he does not have any place of domicile.  One exception is when the case involves property outside the country. If the defendant did not come to the hearings and the court did not have the jurisdiction over the case, the court shall automatically decide its lack of jurisdiction. According to Article 85 of the Civil Procedure Law, the court shall order the case referral to the court which has competence if the court finds its lack of jurisdiction. The court clerk should notify the parties about this decision.

Initiating a civil action:

According to Article 42 of the Civil Procedure Law, the plaintiff shall file a claim to the court by submitting the statements of the claims to the case management office or by creating electronic records for such lawsuits. The article states that the application must include:

• The plaintiff's personal information, such as name, profession, domicile, etc., as well as details about his representative.
• The defendant's personal information and data about his representative.
• The subject of the lawsuit, the plaintiff’s requests and grounds thereof.
• The date of submission of the claim to the case management office.
• The name of the competent court.
• The plaintiff’s or his representative’s signature.

Then the plaintiff needs to submit some copies of the statement of claim to the defendants and management office. He also has to make copies of all the documents that support his lawsuit.

The defendant has to submit a defense memorandum and copies of relevant documents that shall be signed by the said defendant. He has to do this before the date of sitting by at least three days. Usually, ten days is the time limit for appearance before the court according to Article 43 of the Civil Procedure Law. If it is necessary, it can be three days.

Appearing before the court:

According to Article 50 of the Civil Procedure Law, both parties shall appear before the court on the day planned for hearing the case. Either the parties can go themselves or through their attorneys. Depending on the claim, the panel of judges is maximum of three. 

At the first session, the Court hears the case. Documents that are submitted in this session by either party, which they were supposed to provide while filing the lawsuit, may be accepted by the court if it would not result in the adjournment of proceedings. The court can, by themselves or at the request of the litigating parties, if the submitted documents lead to a postponement, impose a fine according to Article 70 of the Civil Procedure Law. Both parties are still allowed to submit papers to his party’s defense or interlocutory request.

If the plaintiff and the defendant fail’ to attend before the court, the court shall decide in the case if it is a valid one, or determine its removal. The suit is null, and the court will cancel the case if none of the parties after 60 days have requested to proceed with the case or none of the parties has attended the sitting, according to Article 51 of the Civil Procedure Law. If only the defendant fails to participate in the hearing, the court will decide in the case. If the defendant has not got with the notification, the court may adjourn the court to the following session by Article 53 of the Civil Procedure Law.

If both parties attend before the court on their own will and present their arguments, the court shall hear the case immediately and render a judgment. If it is not possible to give a decision, the court shall schedule another session according to Article 47 of the Civil Procedure Law. Both parties may agree to end the lawsuit and not proceed with the case if they get the approval from the court and before the court makes the decision. Such cessation can be for six months according to Article 101 of Civil Procedure Law.

DIFC Courts:

Within the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) the civil disputes are resolved by the DIFC Courts. DIFC Courts were established pursuant to Dubai Law number 12 of 2004 (as amended by Dubai Law number 12 of 2011) (the DIFC Law). The DIFC law describes the jurisdiction of the Court and provides for the independent administration of justice in the DIFC. The procedure of a civil claim within DIFC is regulated by the DIFC Law number 10 of 2004.

Glossary

• DIFC Court: court of Dubai International Financial Center.
• The defendant: the person who is accused.
• Plaintiff: the one accusing another person and who makes a claim against that person to the court.
• The Court: refers to the Court of First Instance.
• The Civil Procedure Law (Federal Law number (11) of 1992): law concerning issuance of Civil Procedure Code.
• The DIFC Law: Dubai Law number 12 of 2004 (as amended by Dubai Law number 12 of 2011.
• DIFC Law number 10 of 2004 regarding the establishment of DIFC Courts.