Civil Claim Procedures for Expatriates in UAE

Civil courts structure in UAE is pyramidal, wherein, the Federal Supreme Court is the highest court at a federal level and the Court of Cassation is the highest court at an Emirate Level. Next in the hierarchy of courts are the Courts of Appeal in the relevant Emirate followed by Court of First Instance in each Emirate. If you are a resident of Dubai or any other Emirate in the country, it is pertinent for you to understand the hierarchy of courts as well as the procedure of filing civil claims before such courts as advised by Civil Lawyers of Dubai.

Civil laws in the UAE manage different issues including family concerns, violation of contractual agreements and other corporate-commercial disputes between several parties. The Federal Law No. 11 of 1992 concerning UAE Civil Code was recently amended by virtue of Law number 10 of 2014 and further amendments through Cabinet Decision 57 of 2018 govern the procedure for filing civil claims before relevant courts. The law directs the purviews, guidelines, methodology and strategies regarding Civil Procedural Law. This article will divide the procedure in different easy steps to enlighten our readers the procedure of civil courts to entertain any case.

Step 1

The primary step for civil, employment and family disputes is to register the issue before mediation centres facilitated by UAE courts. For instance, commercial dispute resolution committees, family reconciliation centre, rental dispute centre and labour dispute centre.

The major function of the foregoing authorities is to resolve the dispute amicably between both the parties and in the event they see no opportunity to reach an amicable solution, they will allow the parties to register the matter before the court by issuing a No-Objection certificate.

Step 2

Upon receiving an NOC from the mediation centre, the next step for any claimant is to appoint the Best Civil Lawyers in Dubai or any other relevant Emirate. However, the parties may appoint the lawyers at the mediation stage or post that stage, as they may deem fit. Considering the language barrier and other requirements of the courts in UAE, it is appropriate to appoint a legal consultant in the country to legally represent you before the relevant court authorities.

Step 3

The third step is to register the claim before the civil court (case management officer), wherein the primary step is to submit a “statement of Claim” drafted in Arabic Language along with relevant evidences supporting your claim (legally translated in Arabic) along with a legalised power of attorney if the claim is registered through a lawyer.

The statement of claim will entail all relevant details of the parties, facts of the matter and the request of the claimant, It is pertinent to note that any document procured from outside the country shall be legally attested through public notary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UAE embassy in the country of origin.

Step 4

Upon submitting the first claim, the other party will be summoned before the court and will be given an opportunity to present their defense statement. Once both the parties are given equal opportunity to present their case, the court will issue a judgment in favour of either party and will oblige them to pay the relevant costs. Nevertheless, once the judgment is issued, either party has the right to file an appeal before the court of Appeal followed by an appeal before Court of Cassation, in case they are unsatisfied by the judgment issued by the court. Lastly, the procedure for courts in UAE although looks similar with other countries, yet it is significantly different from other countries considering the different rules and regulations followed by UAE courts and difference in language.

Related Links

• Recent Amendments in the Civil Law Procedure
• Power of Attorney
• UAE judges now have 19 options for community service sentences

Copyright © of this article is retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. We explicitly grant you permission to download a copy, without any alteration, of this article for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or any charge. This article can be utilized on your website or for marketing, however, we grant you permission to host this article on your website and no other rights. This content should not be altered in any way or sold commercially in any format without prior permission of the copyright holder. During reference of this article, full biographic details entailing the name of the author, his designation, the institute and the publishing date of the article shall be provided.