New Judicial Authority Law in Dubai

The article is about a new judicial authority in Dubai, which is liable to select the final jurisdiction among DIFC, other judicial authorities and Dubai Courts. When there is a dispute while selecting the jurisdiction then instead of opening the case in DIFC courts, or Dubai courts or in other jurisdictional bodies, and eventually getting rejected, it is granted an opportunity to get confirmation about the jurisdiction first. This is a revised but new Dubai law known as the new judicial authority law.

What is DIFC Arbitration, learn here.

Most of the times, it is written already in contracts or article of association, that what will be jurisdiction if it has to be court case or cases in future. But if it turns to a dispute then this new judicial authority will help to establish the judicial authority. It is to be understood that, previously there was an authority existing in Dubai too, but not it is a revision of that old authority.

18^th April 2024, Dubai Ruler, set up this new law with an aim of resolving the jurisdictional conflicts between DIFC courts and other judicial bodies, in Dubai. Law is known as new judicial authority law in Dubai. This law is only in Dubai, which was established by the ruler of Dubai for Dubai. The new authority is established by Dubai Decree 29 of 2024, and it is replacing the previous decree which is Dubai Decree 19 of 2016. Therefore this is being called as or referred to as a new decree.

It’s the biggest move-on from its part-judicial status because this new department has to provide an absolute confirmation and a clearer mandate. The new judicial authority is an arbiter to decide and makes it clear about the jurisdiction and judicial body. This new advancement can impact international arbitration enforceability, in Dubai. International arbitration is a global method to resolve financial disputes. Let’s get into more depth and details;

• The scope is not like the old authority which was responsible for answering the judicial council president. The old authority has to submit its report to the president’s judicial council to create safety for all the parties. Now this new authority has the direct right to make a decision about the final judicial place either arbitration or any other judicial department. As we said before, it might impact the arbitration process as well. But if the arbitration jurisdiction or any other judicial department was written in the contract or Article of Association, without clarifying to all contract/business parties, then now this is made challengeable through this authority.
• The committee is comprised of the Secretary-General of JJC, three judges are from DIFC courts and three judges are from Dubai Courts.
• JJC means joint judicial committee.
• A new position is also appointed in the new decree which is Deputy Chief Justice of DIFC courts, as Deputy Chairman. The chairman is the president Dubai Cassation Court.
• The common law system is adopted for the new judicial authority. Article 9(c) New Decree provides the legal rules made by a new authority. The article states that the legal rules set by the new authority will be accepted as a final decision, and DIFC and other judicial bodies will have to accept these rules, regulations and decisions. Read More: Regulatory Bodies in UAE.
• This new binding precedent is a good advancement in civil law legal matters.
• As far as the time frame is concerned when JJC had 30 days to issue the final decision, but the new decree/new authority has no time frame for issuing the final decision. It can go beyond 30 days. It can be further explained by legal authorities in Dubai, with the passage of time.
• The reason to introduce such laws is to provide safety, time safety, and to reduce the chances of choosing the wrong judicial option.
• The decision taken by this new authority has the power of enforceability. It can’t be appealed in the same authority again and there is no way it can be appealed in courts or any other judicial authority.
• Litigants also have the option to start the proceedings parallel. But after the decision made by this authority, it will remove or stop the parallel proceeding. So litigants should be very careful while making this decision. Court fees and another lawyer fee can be wasted. As per the new methodology, one auto stay is implemented after the decision of the new authority against the parallel proceedings.

For details, you can contact our lawyers and legal consultants. If you are facing any dispute like this then you can hire our attorneys in Dubai to grab the legal advice as well as legal services.