Originally published as a Country Specific Q&A on Legal 500, Partner, Abdullah Ishnaneh provides an overview of litigation laws and regulations applicable in UAE, answering such questions as:

  • What are the main methods of resolving commercial disputes?

The main method of resolving commercial disputes is litigation before the local courts. However, there are other means of dispute resolution such as arbitration, the Dubai International Financial Centre Courts and the Abu Dhabi Global Market courts which are free zone courts that follows common law as opposed to local courts which adopt a civil law system.

  • What are the main procedural rules governing commercial litigation?

Federal Law number 11 of 1992 known as the Civil Procedures Law is the main law governing all civil and commercial litigation procedures before local (onshore) courts. The law tackles all procedures of trials from filing claims, notifying parties, experts and their appointments and tasks, appeals, order in hearings, procedures, special and urgent applications, discontinuance, cessation and lapse of time and all other procedures.

  • How does the court determine what law will apply to the claims?

The Court determines the applicable law based on the subject matter of the dispute. For example, in employment matters the UAE Labour Law will be applied. However, in some cases more than one law may be applicable to one dispute, or if specific law does not cover a certain aspect of the dispute, the Court may then revert to the Civil Transactions Law which is the most general law that tackles most if not all principles of law.

The full UAE Litigation Q&A can be downloaded here: Legal 500 - UAE Litigation Chapter

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.